Department for Transport

Meetings

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the minutes of his Department's Executive Committee meetings since November 2012.

Claire Perry: There are currently no plans to publish the minutes of the Department’s Executive Committee meetings. This follows a decision in November 2012 to discontinue doing so.

Roads: Accidents

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road deaths there have been in (a) Lancashire and (b) the UK in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The information requested is given in table below: Number of reported road deaths in Lancashire and the United Kingdom: 2010-2013Number of fatalities  2010201120122013  Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authority 1640Blackpool Unitary Authority 4124Lancashire (excl. Blackburn and Blackpool) County Council 43383032  United Kingdom 1,9051,9601,8021,770

Department for Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the delivery of affordable housing of his Department's policy on section 106 affordable housing exemptions for small sites.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing in rural areas of changes introduced to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department undertook an impact assessment of changes to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing of changes introduced to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The Department for Communities and Local Government carried out a public consultation in March 2014 to invite views and local evidence on proposed changes to national policy on section 106 affordable housing and tariff contributions. All evidence submitted was carefully considered. As a consequence of the consultation, we amended our proposals to introduce a lower threshold of 5 units for rural areas, as outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 28 November 2014, Official Report, Column 55WS. Rural exception sites are also exempted. I can confirm that we have also undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment, which I will arrange to be placed in the Library of the House. We do not consider our reforms will have a negative impact on discrimination, fostering good relations or advancing equality of opportunity. We estimate that the policy will save, on average, £15,000 in Section 106 housing contributions per new dwelling in England—some councils are charging up to £145,000 on single dwellings. Further savings will be made from scaling back Section 106 tariffs, which may add additional charges of more than £15,000 per dwelling, over and above any housing contributions. Taken together, these reforms will deliver six-figure savings for small-scale developers in some parts of the country. We do not believe that our reforms will have any significant adverse effect on our affordable housing programme. We have so far delivered 217,000 new affordable homes since 2010, and are bringing in £19.5 billion of public and private in affordable housing over the current Spending Review period. In the next Parliament, we are on track to deliver a further 275,000 new affordable homes, backed up by £38 billion of public and private investment. The Home Builders Federation has confirmed that these changes will provide a boost to small and medium builders, stating: “This exemption would offer small and medium-sized developers a shot in the arm. The time and expense of negotiating Section 106 affordable housing contributions on small sites, and the subsequent payments, can threaten the viability of small developments and act as another barrier to the entry and growth of smaller firms” Similarly, the Federation of Master Builders has said: “The new ten unit threshold for affordable housing contributions is a sensible and proportionate approach to help alleviate the pressure on SME house builders who have been squeezed out of the housing market in recent years. This is important because without a viable SME house building sector we won’t be able to build the number of new homes that are needed to address the housing crisis”. We also listened to representations for the hon. (Labour) Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) who has campaigned vigorously against such levies. Indeed, I would observe that under the majority of the last Labour Government, the national threshold (as stated in PPG3) was actually 15 units. Loading stealth taxes on new housing just makes housing less affordable and cuts house building. Unrealistic Section 106 charges result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: reducing them can result in more housing and more affordable housing. Our reforms will help unblock small stalled sites and provide a boost to self-builders and small house builders.

Planning Permission

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the planning system applies equally to (a) Gypsies and Travellers and (b) the settled community.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 02 February 2015



Yes. I will be setting out the Government's response to the consultation shortly.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department undertook an impact assessment of the introduction of the financial credit for vacant buildings.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing of the introduction of the financial credit for vacant buildings.

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what written representations his Department received on the introduction of a vacant building credit in 2014.

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2014, HCWS50, whether any exemptions were considered in relation to the vacant building credit.

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2014, HCWS50, whether an impact assessment was carried out on the proposal to introduce a vacant building credit and the effect of that proposal on the provision of new affordable housing.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



The Department for Communities and Local Government carried out a public consultation in March 2014 to invite views and local evidence on proposed changes to national policy on the issue of Section 106 tariffs being imposed on empty buildings being brought back into use. All evidence submitted was carefully considered. The new policy was outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 28 November 2014, Official Report, Column 55WS. The purpose of the credit is to provide an incentive that will help regenerate empty and redundant buildings.I can confirm that we have also undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment, which I will arrange to be placed in the Library. We do not consider our reforms will have a negative impact on discrimination, fostering good relations or advancing equality of opportunity.We do not believe that our reforms will have any significant adverse effect on our affordable housing programme. We have so far delivered 217,000 new affordable homes since 2010, and are bringing in £19.5 billion of public and private in affordable housing over the current Spending Review period. In the next Parliament, we are on track to deliver a further 275,000 new affordable homes, backed up by £38 billion of public and private investment.Planning guidance is kept under review and is updated as required, and we are open to representations on any practical areas where further assistance is needed to help facilitate the implementation of new policy.I would note: · The policy changes are aimed at providing a clear incentive for brownfield regeneration, whilst supporting the Government’s policies of protecting the Green Belt and increasing housing supply. · The relief is intended to reflect the often higher costs of conversion and refurbishment and bringing an existing building back into use. Our reforms will help increase development and regeneration, providing more homes at no cost to the taxpayer. · Such re-use of existing buildings has a limited impact on local infrastructure; however, any increase in floor space would still be liable for Section 106 tariffs. · The Government had already amended regulations for the Community Infrastructure Levy which extend an existing credit for vacant buildings being brought back into use from the levy. This applies either where buildings are brought back into the same use, or for a change of use provided they have not been “abandoned” and have been in use for at least six months in the last three years. In either case the levy is only charged on any increase in floor space. Our Section 106 reforms mirror those Community Infrastructure Levy reforms: this is a consistent, joined-up approach.Our new policy was endorsed in the consultation by the likes of the Federation of Small Businesses, the Home Builders Federation, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the British Property Federation. They said that the proposed policy would encourage the refurbishment and regeneration of brownfield sites and bring vacant buildings back into use, especially given the higher costs of building on previously developed land.It is crazy to be putting stealth taxes on empty and redundant buildings being brought back into productive use, as it hinders regeneration and discourages new housing being created from conversions. I would note to the rt. hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood that one of the reasons why London house prices are so high is all the levies and charges placed on them. If the state puts heavy taxes on new housing, prices will rise and supply will fall; conversely, our reforms will help lower housing costs and increase housing supply.Reflecting commitments made in the Coalition Agreement, getting empty and redundant buildings back into use is a key priority for this Government. Under the Coalition Government, the number of empty homes in England has so far fallen to a 10 year low. Our reforms will further support the conversion of empty buildings, and so deliver an economic, social and environmental benefit to society.

Roads: Litter

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the total cost incurred in the disposal of rural road sweepings in England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kris Hopkins: This information is not centrally held in the form requested.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost of the environmental impact assessments required for hydraulic fracturing developments in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17, (d) 2017-18, (e) 2018-19 and (f) 2019-20; and what assessment he has made of how these costs will be met.

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which organisation is responsible for carrying out environmental impact assessments for hydraulic fracturing developments.

Brandon Lewis: Where an environmental impact assessment is required, the applicant must produce an environmental statement to accompany the planning application. The local planning authority will consider the environmental statement and other relevant information when determining the planning application. We do not hold information on the likely future annual costs of environmental impact assessments in respect of hydraulic fracturing development. Estimating annual costs would be difficult given uncertainties over the number of proposals coming forward each year. Additionally the costs of individual environmental impact assessments will depend on factors such as the scope and level of detail of the information required to assess the likely significant environmental effects of the proposal and will vary on a case by case basis The majority of the cost in respect of an environmental impact assessment will be borne by the applicant. The industry has already committed to undertake environmental impact assessment for any exploration well that involves hydraulic fracturing. A Government amendment to the Infrastructure Bill requires that, before issuing consent for associated hydraulic fracturing, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change must be satisfied that the environmental impact of the development has been taken into account by the local planning authority.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that non-governmental public bodies which are allocated funds by his Department are subject to appropriate oversight and are accountable for their use of those funds.

Kris Hopkins: The Department has strong relationship sponsorship arrangements for its Arms Length Bodies, to ensure they manage taxpayers' money in line with the formal budget delegations they receive from the Department, Managing Public Money, and Cabinet Office Spending Controls. All the Arms Length Bodies except for the Homes and Communities Agency are sponsored by a team in Finance set up in January 2014. Due to its scale and complexity of its delivery programmes, the Homes and Communities Agency has a specialist sponsor team, with specific focus on sound corporate governance, financial oversight, and programme delivery.The relationship the Department has with each of these Bodies is defined by individual Framework Documents and is monitored through formal governance and performance management processes. Aside from this ongoing monitoring, the Accounting Officer for each Arms Length Body is held to account by the Department's Accounting Officer or senior nominee at regular scheduled meetings. In addition, officials regularly attend Arms Length Body Audit and Risk Committees.Reflecting the Home and Communities Agency's role in delivering large scale capital recoverable investment programmes, both the Department and the Agency has brought in senior level banking and risk professional expertise to manage the proper use of public money.

Green Belt

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many hectares of greenbelt land there are in the UK.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The extent of the designated Green Belt in England in 2013/14 was estimated at 1,638,610 hectares. Disregarding land re-classified as National Park, the Green Belt is 34,000 hectares larger than in 1997.Designation of Green Belt outside of England is a matter for the relevant devolved administrations.

Community Relations: Bristol

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what projects in the City of Bristol have been supported by the Near Neighbours fund in each year since that fund was established; and how much that fund has awarded in total.

Stephen Williams: The Near Neighbours programme does not operate in the City of Bristol. The programme operates in eight hubs around England and includes a small grants element alongside other activities aimed at building productive working relationships between people of different faiths. In total, since the programme was established in 2011, the Government has invested over £8 million with Church Urban Fund match-funding of £600,000. More information on the programme can be found here: http://www.cuf.org.uk/how-we-help/near-neighbours.The Church Urban Fund also offers funding through the Together Grants programme, supporting faith based organisations to engage in social action, by supporting them to initiate or develop community work. The Church Urban Fund has made nearly two hundred grants in the Diocese of Bristol (including the city of Bristol and the surrounding areas), totalling more than £2.1 million.

Social Networking

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the use of (a) Twitter and (b) other social media to communicate with the public.

Kris Hopkins: Digital and social media are an effective and low-cost way of communicating with the public. This Government has amended the law to strengthen the rights of the press and public to report and film council meetings using digital and social media. In August 2014, we published a plain English guide to help councils, the press and the public with these new rights. We made clear that there is no prohibition on councillors from tweeting and blogging at meetings, and they should be able to do so provided it is not disruptive and does not detract from the proper conduct of the meeting. Local authorities should have regard to the local government Publicity Code, which seeks to prevent the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources, including social media. Notwithstanding, last June, Ministers challenged and criticised guidance to parish councils issued by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that sought to prevent elected councillors from issuing media comments without prior written permission of the council. NALC has now produced a new Media Policy Example that takes into account the new national rules on filming and recording at parish and town council meetings. In December, we invited bids for local pilots to bring statutory notices into the 21st Century. This could include supporting the increased use of digital and social media by councils and commercial partners, as one of the ways that such notices could be improved and reformed.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many first time buyers have been assisted by the Help to Buy scheme in (a) Lancashire and (b) the UK.

Brandon Lewis: This Government is committed to supporting people's aspirations to own their own home.  By 31 December 2014, over 58,000 first time buyers in the UK had bought a home with the support of the Help to Buy schemes. In Lancashire, 2,089 families had bought a home using the support of the three Help to Buy schemes by 31 December 2014. The Government does not collate statistics on the number of first-time buyers for all Help to Buy schemes at a local authority level. The Department’s official statistics on sales for the respective Help to Buy schemes are available at: Help to Buy: Equity Loan (broken down by constituency, local authority (including first-time buyer), and postcode), to 31 December 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee (broken down by constituency, local authority and postcode), to 30 September 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-september-2014 Help to Buy: New Buy (broken down by local authority), to 31 December 2014: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-and-help-to-buy-newbuy-statistics-april-2013-to-december-2014 Figures are not available by constituency.

Non-domestic Rates

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 218966, whether he plans to publish financial data on national non-domestic rates before 12 February 2015.

Kris Hopkins: Financial data on national non-domestic rates to be collected by councils in England in 2015-16 will be published on 18 February 2015. The data will be available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/national-non-domestic-rates-to-be-collected-by-councils-in-engalnd-2015-to-2016.

Local Government: Procurement

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has published to ensure local authorities fulfil their duty to consider economic, social and environmental well-being through procurement.

Kris Hopkins: The Government published Best Value Statutory Guidance in September 2011. Under the Duty of Best Value local authorities should consider overall value, including economic, environmental and social value, when reviewing service. The Guidance can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/5945/1976926.pdfIn addition, the Cabinet Office/Crown Commercial Service have also provided guidance on the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 , which the Department has distributed to all local authorities including fire and rescue authorities.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Australia

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority for the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change.

China

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority for the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change. Sir David King, the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative for Climate Change and my Rt Honourable friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton continue to raise climate change with Chinese counterparts, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister responsible for climate change. Sir David King most recently visited China in January 2015.

Mexico

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Mexican counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority with the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at Ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change. It was recently raised bilaterally at FCO ministerial level and will be a priority for the forthcoming state visit to the UK.

Philippines

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Philippines counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority for the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change.

Seas and Oceans: Plastics

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts overseas on the dumping of plastics in the world's oceans.

Mr David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Transport, my Rt Hon friend the member for Derbyshire Dales has responsibility for shipping and the UK's obligations under the International Marine Organisation’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), under which the discharge of plastics from ships is prohibited. The UK is also a party to the London Protocol, which would not permit ‘dumping’ of plastics in the ocean.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the start of the military operations against the Democratic Republic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and the planned closures of internally-displaced persons camps in North Kivu province on the humanitarian situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Hugo Swire: On 30 January the government of the DRC announced that military action had begun against the FDLR, but it is our assessment that comprehensive operations are yet to fully commence. Officials at the British Embassy in Kinshasa have reiterated to the government of the DRC that international expectations remain high: the threat posed by the FDLR to civilians and to the security and stability of the region must be tackled.We are also clear that the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) must ensure efforts to minimise the impact on civilians remain forefront in planning for military operations against armed groups. We are working closely with the humanitarian community and MONUSCO to this end. This includes liaising with, and providing financial support for, organisations working up contingency plans for any potential humanitarian impact.We are also actively engaged with humanitarian organisations and the DRC government to ensure that any approach to the IDP camps around Goma complies with humanitarian law and the Kampala Convention.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the planned closures of the internally-displaced persons camps in North Kivu province and the start of military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

Mr Hugo Swire: On 30 January the government of the DRC announced that military action had begun against the FDLR, but it is our assessment that comprehensive operations are yet to fully commence. Officials at the British Embassy in Kinshasa have reiterated to the government of the DRC that international expectations remain high: the threat posed by the FDLR to civilians and to the security and stability of the region must be tackled. We are also clear that the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) must ensure efforts to minimise the impact on civilians remain forefront in planning for military operations against armed groups. We are working closely with the humanitarian community and MONUSCO to this end. This includes liaising with, and providing financial support for, organisations working up contingency plans for any potential humanitarian impact. We are also actively engaged with humanitarian organisations and the DRC government to ensure that any approach to the IDP camps around Goma complies with humanitarian law and the Kampala Convention.

Bahrain

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Bahrainian counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority for the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change. Although there has been no engagement at ministerial level with Bahrain recently, we are exploring with DECC options for future engagement.

India

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on climate change.

Mr David Lidington: The Department of Energy and Climate Change leads the UK’s effort to tackle climate change. Securing a global and binding climate deal, in December this year, that keeps alive prospects for limiting global warming to within 2C is also a top foreign policy priority for the FCO. Together we raise climate change with a wide range of countries at ministerial level and through the Special Representative for Climate Change. My Rt Honourable friends the Members for Kingston and Surbiton, Sheffield Hallam and Richmond all raised climate change with their counterparts during visits to India last summer. We are exploring with DECC options for future engagement.

Yemen

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle human rights abuse in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has funded projects on gender and security; child marriage; and youth engagement. The Department for International Development has also contributed £10 million through multi-donor UN Trust Funds to provide operational and technical support to the National Dialogue Conference, constitution drafting process and election preparations, which further our human rights priorities.Regrettably, given the significant deterioration in the political and security situation in Yemen since June 2014 and the temporary suspension of operations of the Embassy on 11 February, we are having to review our programmes.

UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the role of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign and Commonwealth Office representatives regularly discuss MINURSO with their international counterparts, most recently in New York in January 2015. The UK supports the UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation of the Saharawi population in Western Sahara; and what discussions he has had with the government of Morocco on this issue.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that there has been progress in the human rights situation. Some concerns remain and we are continuing to follow progress in these areas. My Noble Friend, Lady Anelay, raised Western Sahara at senior levels during her visit to Morocco last month. I discussed Western Sahara issues with the Moroccan Ambassador most recently in January 2015.

Morocco

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Morocco's compliance with the (a) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (b) Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and (c) Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We recognise and support Morocco’s international commitment to adhere to the standards laid down in these universal human rights documents. There has been notable progress on human rights in Morocco. In particular, we welcome their ratification of the Optional Protocol for the Convention against Torture in December 2014.

Pakistan

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British nationals are under sentence of death in Pakistan; and what assistance his Department is providing to each such nationals.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As of 11 February we are aware of 2 British nationals who have been sentenced to death in Pakistan. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides consular assistance to all British nationals sentenced to death, unless they decline this. This includes making representations at all appropriate levels in line with our opposition to the death penalty and welfare support. We also refer British nationals to specialist non-governmental organisations that are able to provide additional support to them.

Intelligence Services

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department takes to monitor compliance with the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel applicable to the passing of intelligence relating to individuals who are at risk of targeted lethal strikes.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The independent Intelligence Services Commissioner oversees compliance with the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel on the Detention and Interviewing of Detainees Overseas, and on the Passing and Receipt of Intelligence Relating to Detainees and reports annually on those aspects for which he has responsibility. His role in this regard was put on a statutory footing in November 2014.

Intelligence Services

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what training his Department has provided to service and other personnel on the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel applicable to the passing of intelligence relating to individuals who are at risk of targeted lethal strikes.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: It is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on intelligence matters. This includes matters relating to the training of Intelligence Service personnel.

Intelligence Services

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel applicable to the passing of intelligence relating to individuals who are at risk of targeted lethal strikes.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel on the Detention and Interviewing of Detainees Overseas, and on the Passing and Receipt of Intelligence Relating to Detainees has been published online: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62632/Consolidated_Guidance_November_2011.pdf

Middle East

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to support forces opposed to Islamic State.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of reports of a small number of British citizens fighting against ISIL in Syria and Iraq, but are not able to estimate accurately the total number. The UK advises against all travel to Syria and against travel to much of Iraq. Anyone who does travel to these areas, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger. The Syrian National Coalition, which we recognise as the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, have made clear that they do not want foreign fighters to come to their country. The best way for the British public to help the people of Syria and Iraq is to support UK registered charities that are providing humanitarian relief to those affected by the conflict.

Pakistan

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Pakistan in support of resuming the moratorium on the death penalty in that country; and what assessment he has made of the prospects for a lasting moratorium on the death penalty in Pakistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly raise the issue of the death penalty in Pakistan at the highest levels and have consistently pressed the Government of Pakistan to commit to a moratorium on the death penalty. It is our longstanding policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We fully understand Pakistan’s resolve to protect society from terrorism but there is no evidence that capital punishment is an effective deterrent.

Intelligence Services

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will give a direction under section 59A of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 that the Intelligence Services Commissioner review the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel applicable to the passing of intelligence relating to individuals who are at risk of targeted lethal strikes.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer of 16 Oct 2014 to (PQ 209539).

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department or other Ministers in her Department on the establishment of a national financial protection scheme for international students.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he last met international students' representatives to discuss issues affecting international students in the UK.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the establishment of a national financial protection scheme for international students studying in the UK.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



Policy for further and higher education is a devolved matter and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is responsible for England. Institutions of Further and Higher Education are autonomous independent organisations and as such, they are themselves responsible for their policies and procedures and the management of their operations. The Government encourages the sector to take student welfare seriously, including the welfare of international students.   Officials in BIS regularly meet with Home Office officials and education sector representatives to discuss a range of issues affecting international students. Both my R thon Friend the Secretary of State for BIS and I also regularly meet with bodies who represent or are otherwise concerned with international students.

Minimum Wage

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that employees working for companies with which his Department has contracted are paid more than National Minimum Wage.

Jo Swinson: Since 1 April 2014, the lowest paid contracted staff at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) offices across the UK have been paid £7.85 per hour, up £1.40 or nearly 22% from the previous £6.45 per hour rate. This increase restored and surpassed the real value of wages that had fallen in recent years. This means that BIS contractors are amongst the top 25% of contractors across Whitehall.   We absolutely encourage suppliers to pay above the National Minimum Wage where affordable and without cutting jobs - but this is a decision that must be taken by the suppliers themselves. We will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer most often following a competitive process, making use of the Crown Commercial Frameworks to ensure a consistent application with the rest of Government.

Tax Avoidance

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many complaints the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has received about umbrella payroll companies in each of the last five years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many umbrella payroll companies have been subject to enforcement action by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each of the last five years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many umbrella payroll companies have been investigated by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each of the last five years.

Jo Swinson: The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) enforce the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (both as amended).   These regulations apply only to employment agencies which place people permanently with employers, and employment businesses who place people temporarily with hirers.   If an umbrella company is providing payroll services they would not fall within the definition of either an employment agency or employment business and EAS would not have vires to take enforcement action.   If, however, they were providing work-finding services in addition to payroll services they could be investigated by EAS, but would be recorded in the investigation as either an employment agency or employment business.   Umbrella companies acting as employers are still required to comply with employment law and where individuals feel that their statutory employment protections have been breached, they are able to seek redress through the normal routes. However, it can be difficult for individuals to be sure of whether they are “employees” or “workers” and which employment protections they have. That is why, in October, the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status aimed at identifying options that provide more clarity and transparency up front.

Ordnance Survey

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to change Ordnance Survey into a Government-owned company.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Postgraduate Education

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to remove financial barriers to postgraduate education.

Greg Clark: At Autumn Statement, we introduced a new offer of income contingent loans for postgraduate taught Masters courses. For the first time, anyone under age 30 who is eligible and accepted to study a Masters in any subject, will be able to access a loan of up to £10,000.   In addition, to support students until these loans are in place, we have announced £50 million in 2015/16, matched funded by institutions, to make available 10,000 bursaries of £10,000.

Small Businesses

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support he has provided to small businesses.

Matthew Hancock: The GREATbusiness website (http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk) brings together expert advice for business in one place and the new Business Growth Service provides joined-up support to firms with growth potential. The British Business Bank has facilitated a total of £1.52 billion of new lending and investment in the year to December 2014, to over 22,000 smaller businesses. Over 25,000 start-up loans have been drawn, totalling over £130 million. And 48,000 businesses have been helped by our UK Trade and Investment support – 90% were small businesses.

Job Security

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of the main causes of insecurity in the workplace.

Jo Swinson: The latest Workplace Employment Relations Study shows that employees’ views on job security are related to their individual circumstances and to underlying economic conditions. Job satisfaction increased from 2004 to 2011, but unsurprisingly insecurity rose during the recession. However, 1.4 million more people in employment since 2010 will have reduced this. The latest statistics show that 30.8 million people aged 16 and above are in employment, the highest number since records began.   The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is also funding research into what works in driving workplace wellbeing further. On 29 October we published original research which tells us more about how improved staff well-being can have a positive effect on business performance. This analysis can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/worker-wellbeing-and-workplace-performance.

Government Departments: Procurement

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to increase apprenticeship places and support small businesses through greater use of government procurement.

Vince Cable: Under the industrial strategy, we encourage a long term approach to procurement, including training and apprenticeships.

Apprentices

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: We have already delivered over 2.1 million apprenticeships during this parliament.   Employers are designing apprenticeships to meet their skills needs, making it more attractive and easier for them to offer more opportunities in the future.   The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers is helping smaller businesses take on new young apprentices. From April 2016 employers will not be required to pay employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25 on earnings up to the upper earnings limit.

Conditions of Employment

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that employees working on zero-hours contracts, who are in practice working regular hours over an extended period, have the right to a fixed-term contract.

Jo Swinson: All employees on zero hours contracts can already, after 26 weeks, request a move to fixed hours contracts under flexible working legislation, brought in on 30 June 2014. We are also currently banning exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts and the employment status review currently taking place is looking further at the employment rights zero hours workers have.

Manufacturing Industries

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the manufacturing sector.

Matthew Hancock: Our Long Term Economic Plan is giving manufacturers the confidence to invest - creating more opportunities, skilled jobs and making the UK more competitive so that British businesses can thrive.

Higher Education: Admissions

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to widen access to higher education.

Vince Cable: The most recent UCAS statistics show another record year for university entry for disadvantaged students. 18.2% of 18 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds obtained a university place via UCAS in 2014.By 2018/19, Universities expect to spend £735m on bursaries, outreach and supporting retention and student success through their agreements with the Director of Fair Access.Our reforms have been fair, progressive and given our universities sustainable funding for the future.

Department for International Development

South Sudan

Mr Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the UK will support the call from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for donors to provide US$600 million to the humanitarian response in South Sudan by the end of February 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Overall, the UK has committed £132.5m to the crisis in South Sudan and a further £58.9 million for South Sudanese refugees in the region, making it the second largest bilateral donor after the US. The UK has been an early responder since the start of the crisis in South Sudan, mobilising resources within days of the onset of conflict, and committing resources to the food security response early on to help avert famine in 2014. In response to the 2015 UN Appeal the UK has already allocated over £20 million. Additionally the UK disbursed almost £30 million in December 2014. The timely disbursement of these contributions was to take advantage of the 2015 dry season window; enabling partners to pre-position vital supplies and achieve cost effective transportation allowing more lives to be saved.   On 9th February 2015, at a joint UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Intergovernmental Authority on Development High-Level Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in South Sudan the UK strongly lobbied other donors to commit early funding in 2015 to the protracted humanitarian crisis and called on the Government of South Sudan to contribute more resources towards meeting the vast humanitarian needs of their people, facilitating unhindered humanitarian access and increasing support for basic services. At the conference, $618 million was pledged to support the 2015 humanitarian response in South Sudan.

Private Infrastructure Development Group

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, by what date she expects the Private Infrustructure Development Group to have implemented International Aid Transparency Initiative compliant reporting for all its financing facilities.

Justine Greening: The PIDG plan to publish their first International Aid Transparency Initiative compliant report in March 2015.

Caribbean

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2015 to Question 220282, and with reference to page 234 of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what her Department's budget is for programmes in the Caribbean in 2014-15; and for what reasons that budget has changed from what was originally planned for that year.

Justine Greening: The Department for International Development has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, in which countries her Department is undertaking work to strengthen tax systems; and how much funding her Department has allocated to such activity.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, in which countries her Department has supported enhanced revenue collection using capacity development.

Justine Greening: DFID is currently engaged in tax capacity building in 22 of our 28 priority countries. We are also developing tax capacity building work in a further 4 priority countries. This includes indirect support through multilateral organisations.  We have been expanding our work on tax and transparency over the Parliament. This includes the establishment of a specialist Developing Country Capacity Building Unit in HMRC, to deploy HMRC staff to provide technical expertise in support of these efforts.

Center for Health Market Innovations

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has allocated to the Center for Health Market Innovations in each financial year from 2011-12.

Justine Greening: The Department for International Development has allocated the following funds to the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) in each financial year from 2011-12: Financial Year£2011/1202012/130.9m2013/140.7m

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's budget was allocated to least developed countries in 2014-15.

Justine Greening: Country expenditure for 2013 shows that 59% of DFID country-specific bilateral ODA was spent in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as defined by the UN.

Developing Countries: Children

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her strategy is for the protection of children in countries receiving UK aid.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Assessing the needs of men, women, girls and boys in emergency situations, including their protection needs, is a core function of DFID humanitarian partners. In conflict affected areas for example, children face multiple problems ranging from being used as child soldiers, to sexual exploitation, to denial of access to education. DFID views facilitating education as one of the ways we can help to protect children. In the Syria region for example, the No Lost Generation initiative contributes to protecting children through access to learning and psychosocial support. It advocates for better protection of children from violence, abuse and exploitation, aiming to restore hope for the future to thousands of children. DFID has allocated £50m to the No Lost Generation initiative, and is working with UNICEF and other partners to maximise the quality, coverage and coherence of these interventions, contributing to resilience and peaceful co-habitation. DFID has also funded education, psychosocial support and child protection across the region, with a particular focus on support to education in Lebanon and Jordan. We have also focussed on protecting children as part of our Call To Action on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), which saw commitments from partners that included creating new protection officer roles, incorporating the issue of VAWG into humanitarian coordination response plans, supplying additional human resources on VAWG and to increase the evidence base on this issue for more effective targeting of UK assistance. In each rapid onset emergency DFID supports, we review specific actions to address Violence Against Women and Girls. For example in response to Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines during the Call to Action meeting in 2013, the Secretary of State convened a high level meeting with donors and UN agencies to specifically ensure that VAWG was addressed as a priority. As a result, participants agreed that the Philippines should act as a pilot for improving how VAWG is addressed in emergencies. The Secretary of State tasked a team of DFID experts to the Philippines to take stock of the international response VAWG within the first weeks of the emergency and to ensure DFID programmes addressed this issue.

Developing Countries: Children

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to the protection of children in emergencies in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Protection of children in emergencies is a priority for DFID. Examples of our work include in the Syrian region DFID is helping to provide protection to children affected by armed conflict. We are providing more than £500 million in humanitarian aid to help people, including children, who have lost everything as a result of the violence. Of this the UK has dedicated £82 million specifically for the protection, trauma care and education of children affected by the crisis. In Eastern DRC, DFID is in close discussion with the international community and the government of DRC on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programming with a specific child soldier component.   Additionally the UK has supported child protection activities in emergencies through our work on Violence Against Women and Girls following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, in the recent Iraq crisis and through security sector reform programmes in Somalia. In Sierra Leone we are supporting UNICEF for child protection activities in the Ebola outbreak, where DFID deployed child protection advisers to jump start a focus on this important issue.   Child protection activities in emergencies are often part of wider projects and funding is not recorded separately. For example, education projects in emergencies will often provide protection and since 2009/10 DFID has more than doubled education spending in conflict and fragile states. From 2010 to 2015, the UK has supported 11 million children in primary and lower secondary school, and trained more than 190,000 teachers.

Developing Countries: Females

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2015 to Question 220355, what steps she is taking to monitor the commitments made at the Girl Summit.

Justine Greening: DFID is working with UNICEF, in consultation with civil society, Governments and regional bodies, to monitor country level Girl Summit commitments. An update on commitments made at and following the Girl Summit will be published by UNICEF later this year.

Department for Education

Bullying

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that teaching staff receive training on how to recognise and deal with bullying from when it begins.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Government is clear that there is no place for bullying in schools and no child should suffer the unnecessary stress caused by it. Teachers play a critical role in tackling bullying and ensuring the safety of their pupils. Providers of initial teacher training, head teachers and teachers themselves are best placed to determine the types of training and development that will help teachers to meet these standards, including any appropriate training required to identify and eradicate bullying. The Teachers’ Standards require teachers to “establish a safe and stimulating environment for students, rooted in mutual respect”.   We are also providing around £4 million to anti-bullying organisations which covers training for teachers to help them prevent and tackle bullying. In addition, in conjunction with the Government Equalities Office, we are currently considering bids for a £2 million fund to support schools to tackle homophobic bullying; as well as a £25 million voluntary and community sector grant programme which covers work to combat bullying. We have also produced guidance to help schools prevent bullying and support children who are being bullied which is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying

Teachers: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unqualified teachers were teaching at each school in Preston constituency in (a) April 2010 and (b) December 2014.

Mr David Laws: The following table provides the head count number of regular teachers without qualified teacher status (QTS) in service in publicly funded schools in Preston constituency in November 2010 and November 2013. The information is from the School Workforce Census which takes place in November each year. Information for November 2013 is the latest available.   Teachers without QTS November 2010November 2013Stoneygate Children's Centre00Larches House SchoolNA-Lea Community Primary School00Brookfield Community Primary School00Deepdale Junior School00Deepdale Infants' School00Eldon Primary School00Brockholes Wood Community Primary School and Nursery00Frenchwood Community Primary School00Preston Grange Primary School00Preston Greenlands Community Primary School00Holme Slack Community Primary School00Ribbleton Avenue Infant School00Moor Nook Community Primary School00The Roebuck School00Ashton Primary School00Ingol Community Primary School00Pool House Community Primary School00Fishwick Primary School00Ribbleton Avenue Methodist Junior School00St Stephen's CofE School00St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston00Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School-0Preston St Matthew's Church of England Primary School00The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School00English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston00Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School00St Augustine's Catholic Primary School00St Maria Goretti Catholic Primary School, Preston00St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Preston00St Ignatius' Catholic Primary School00Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Ingol, Preston00St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston00Ashton Community Science College68Preston Muslim Girls High SchoolNA3Moor Park Business and Enterprise School10-Christ The King Catholic Maths and Computing College00Moorbrook School-0Royal Cross Primary School00Sir Tom Finney Community High School53Acorns Primary School00Total1417 Source: School Workforce Census Notes: Formerly known as Moor Park Business and Enterprise School in November 2010.“-“ Fewer than 3 teachers.“NA” Not applicable.

Free Schools

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222135, for what reason her Department did not publish successful free school applications from waves 4-7 at the same time as successful applications from waves 1-3.

Mr Edward Timpson: In the interests of transparency, we decided to release the earlier free school applications as soon as they had been redacted rather than wait until June when the later applications will be ready for publication.

Teachers: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West left the profession in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

Mr David Laws: National figures for teacher flows into and out of teaching were published on 22 January 2015 and are available online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013   The information requested for Preston, Lancashire and the North West is not yet available because the methodology for producing reliable teacher wastage data for subnational areas is still being developed.

Teachers: Working Conditions

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce teacher workload.

Mr David Laws: High-quality teaching is the single most important school-based factor determining how well pupils achieve. The Department for Education is committed to supporting the profession and reducing unnecessary teacher workload is an absolute priority.   The Department published its response to the Workload Challenge[1] on 6 February in which it set out a comprehensive programme of action to address the complex issues which have led to unnecessary workload.   The actions include: A commitment from Ofsted not to change their handbook or framework during the school year, except when absolutely necessary;giving schools more notice of significant changes to the curriculum, exams and accountability, and not making changes to qualifications in the academic year or during a course, unless there are urgent reasons for doing so;making it easier for teachers to find examples of what works in other schools, and research about the best way to carry out tasks like marking, data management and planning;providing support for headteachers by reviewing all leadership training, including coaching and mentoring; andtracking teacher workload by carrying out a large scale biennial survey from early spring 2016.  [1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/workload-challenge-for-schools-government-response

Free Schools: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools there currently are in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West; and how much funding her Department has allocated to the funding of free schools in each such area.

Mr Edward Timpson: In answer to the above question;   There are currently no free schools in Preston. There are currently three free schools in the local authority area of Lancashire with the total revenue funding allocation of £2,789,724 for the academic year 2014 to 2015. There are currently seven free schools in the county of Lancashire, which includes the local authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, with the total revenue funding allocation of £12,013,185 for the academic year 2014 to 2015. The North West has 41 free schools with a total revenue funding allocation of £54,002,376 for the academic year 2014 to 2015.

Academies: Walsall

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason officials in her Department told the hon. Member for Walsall North that she would not be accompanied by a prospective parliamentary candidate on her visit to an academy in that constituency on 9 February 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she told the academy in the Walsall North constituency that she was going to visit on 9 February 2015.

Mr Edward Timpson: Departmental officials organise official government business including visits. They would not be expected to be involved in arrangements with Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.   Rivers Primary Academy was first informed that the Secretary of State for Education was planning to visit on 5 February 2015. The arrangements were then made and confirmed on 6 February 2015, on which date the Department also alerted the hon. Member to the planned visit.

Ministry of Justice

Asylum: Appeals

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against decisions (a) not to award and (b) to stop support provided under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 there have been in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Appeals relating to Asylum Support are heard in the First-tier Tribunal Social Entitlement Chamber (Asylum Support) which is administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes official statistics on the operation of HMCTS which includes the number of Asylum Support appeals received in each of the last five years. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the most recent official statistical publication (covering the period up to the end of September 2014) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. HMCTS does not collate information on the volume of cases received broken down by decision type. This information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost by manually checking individual tribunal files for the period in question.

Contempt of Court

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date and (c) period of committal was of each court order issued by the High Court to the Prison Service for contempt of court since November 2014.

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date and (c) period of committal was of each court order issued by (i) Birmingham County Court, (ii) Birmingham High Court and (iii) Birmingham Family Court for contempt of court since May 2013.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Details of contempt of court hearings are not held on Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management systems, and HMCTS do not centrally collate data on contempt of court cases. Contempt of court can cover a wide variety of circumstances and can be committed by a party in a case or by someone unconnected with specific proceedings such as a juror or a member of the press. Those relating to a specific case will be noted on the court log or daily list and the warrant retained on file. Those not relating to specific cases will be recorded on daily lists and warrants stored along with other orders. The High Court in London has been able to check its records since November 2014 and have imprisoned two people for contempt of court, both of which were heard in open court. The details are provided in the table below: DivisionJudgeDatePeriodQueens BenchHHJ Seymour20-11-143 MonthsChanceryJustice Asplin2-2-153 Months However, in order to identify any cases where a contempt of court occurred in the courts in Birmingham HMCTS would have to manually check every court file at each court for the relevant period. This would incur disproportionate costs. Whilst prisons log the offence for which prisoners are sent to prison, they do not record the details that have been requested. In order to obtain the requested information, the individual records of all prisoners currently held in prisons, together with those that have been discharged during the period requested, would need to be located and individually checked. This would incur disproportionate costs.

Asylum: Appeals

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who are currently waiting for appeals relating to asylum applications have been waiting over (a) one year and (b) two years.

Andrew Selous: The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration & Asylum Chamber) hears appeals against decisions to refuse a claim for asylum. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration & Asylum Chamber) hears appeals on a point of law against a First-tier Tribunal decision.(a) As of 9 February 2015 case management records show there are 211 outstanding asylum appeals in the First-tier Tribunal and 121 outstanding asylum appeals in the Upper Tribunal that were received at least one year ago.(b) Of these records, 55 First-tier Tribunal appeals and 83 Upper Tribunal appeals were received at least two years ago.Only a tiny percentage of cases take more than a year, and when they do it is because they raise complex issues. Official statistics published on the 11 December 2014, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2014 show that the average time taken to dispose of an asylum appeal within the First-tier Tribunal was 12 weeks between July and September 2014.

Court Orders: Grandparents

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for Court Orders there have been from grandparents wishing to see grandchildren after the divorce of the parents of those children in the last three years.

Simon Hughes: The number of applications by grandparents for Child Arrangement Orders (child to spend time with a named person) are shown below. Prior to 22nd April 2014 these were called Contact Orders. These applications will most often be the result of parental separation involving both married and unmarried parents. It is not possible to provide figures for applications made only as a result of parents who have divorced as this is not held centrally. Financial yearNumber of applications for contact by Grandparents2011/1223192012/1326492013/142517  The latest full financial year available data is for 2013-14.

Legal Aid Scheme

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has saved as a result of the implementation of each of the legal aid provisions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Andrew Selous: It is not possible at this point to establish the precise savings resulting from the legal aid reforms contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. There are still ongoing cases that started prior to the reforms. As a result, the reforms have not yet reached steady state and the full savings have not yet been fully realised.However, the NAO recently concluded in their report: Implementing reforms to civil legal aid, that the MoJ is on track to deliver £300m of savings.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been paid in severance and redundancy packages to prison officers in each month since May 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have taken severance and redundancy packages in each month since May 2014.

Andrew Selous: Information on the amount paid to prison officers in severance since May 2014 is not currently available. Invoices relating to severance payments made for this period have not been received by Departments. Information, from personnel records, on the number of prison officers who have left NOMS for reasons that would typically attract a severance payment is contained in the table. Severance payments are usually received by staff leaving NOMS due to medical inefficiency and through voluntary exit schemes. No voluntary exit schemes involving prison officers have been initiated in 2014/15. The small number, which amounts to five or fewer, of exits under these terms relate to officers who had previously agreed an exit but whose departure had been delayed into this year. Monthly Headcount of Prison Officers Leaving NOMS Due To Reasons Attracting Severance/Redundancy Payments (Voluntary Exit Schemes And Medical Inefficiency Cases) May - September 2014MonthHeadcount of LeaversMay 201410Jun 201420Jul 201420Aug 201420Sep 201420 Notes: A small number of officers leaving for medical inefficiency may be re-designated and will not receive a severance payment. Figures are derived from Official Statistics and in line with our obligations under the Statistics and Registration Act 2007 and the Official Statistics Code of Practice, staff numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Domestic Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid in domestic violence cases were (a) granted and (b) refused in (i) the last full financial year before the provisions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force and (ii) in each financial year since those provisions came into force.

Andrew Selous: This Government is exceptionally clear that where people have suffered or are suffering from domestic violence, legal aid must be available to help them break free from the abusive relationship. Official statistics on legal aid are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics

Female Genital Mutilation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the eligibility criteria for legal aid are for those seeking Female Genital Mutilation protection orders.

Andrew Selous: We are committed to tackling and preventing the harmful and unacceptable practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). This is why we are strengthening the law in this area through the Serious Crime Bill, including by introducing Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders, to protect potential or actual victims of FGM. Civil legal aid will be available in relation to the making, varying, discharge and appeal of these orders. Criminal legal aid will be available in relation to a prosecution for breach of such an order.We will consider how best to apply the means and merits tests as part of the preparations for implementing FGM Protection Orders, subject to the Bill becoming law.

Ministry of Defence

Army Reserve

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers were recruited to the Army Reserve between 2011 and 2015.

Mr Julian Brazier: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



The available data on recruitment to the Territorial Army (TA) for Financial Year (FY) 2011-12 was provided in an answer given by the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew Robathan) to the hon. Member for Shipley, (Phillip Davies) on 21 May 2012 (Official Report, column 442-443W). The number of recruits to the TA in FY 2011-12 (excluding the Officer Training Corps) was 4,240.Figures for intake to the Army Reserve have been captured since FY 2012-13 and were 3,960 in 2012-13 and 2,960 in 2013-14.The year end total for FY 2014-15 will be released in the Quarterly Personnel Report which will be published in May 2015. The intake to the Army Reserve for the first three quarters of FY 2014-15 was 3,600.



Hansard Extract 21 May 2012
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Advertising

Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on television advertising in each of the last three years.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 11 February 2015



The Ministry of Defence has spent the following on television advertising in each of the last three financial years:2011-12 - The data is not held in the precise format requested.2012-13 - £8.0 million2013-14 - £8.4 millionThis expenditure is for recruitment advertising. It is a key requirement for the Armed Forces to maintain a satisfactory balance of skills, experience, ability and seniority in rank to enable delivery of operational requirements. Despite the reduction in overall numbers of Service personnel, the requirement for the Armed Forces to recruit and train personnel to replace those who leave the Services remains. Audited figures for 2014-15 will be available after the end of the financial year.

Colombia

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 210574, what assessment his Department has undertaken to ensure that the Colombian army units receiving British military training have not committed and will not commit human rights abuses against Colombian civilians.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 11 February 2015



Ministry of Defence (MOD) has clear guidelines in place to ensure that Colombian army units receiving British military training have not and will not commit human rights abuses against civilians. This includes carrying out Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessments where applicable and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure MOD's activity is in line with our international obligations. In addition we make regular representations to the Colombian government on human rights, reflecting the UK's deep commitment in this area. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and the Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg) both raised human rights with President Santos during their separate visits to Colombia in February 2014. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) also raised human rights with the Colombian government when he visited in June 2014. In all meetings the President's commitment to zero tolerance of human rights abuses was welcomed while also underlining the importance of taking action on threats to human rights defenders and trade unionists.

NHS: Armed Forces

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse has been of training members of the armed forces to provide support for the NHS in each of the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 11 February 2015



In financial year (FY) 14-15 the net additional cost to the public purse of training members of the Armed Forces to support the NHS is estimated to be £188,000, which relates to the training for military personnel to cover three periods of actual or proposed industrial action by ambulance drivers in October, November and January. The Ministry of Defence will be reimbursed for these net additional costs by the Department of Health.We have checked our records which indicate that there was no additional cost to the public purse of training members of the Armed Forces to provide support to the NHS in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14. There was one instance of assistance in 2014 but no training costs were incurred.

Navy

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which it is implementing Priority 5 of the UK's National Strategy for Maritime Security; and whether it has identified any areas in respect of that priority requiring action or improvement.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



The UK's National Strategy for Maritime Security is a cross-Departmental strategy which identifies 16 Government Departments and Agencies (including the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Home Office, Foreign Office and UK Border Force) who are responsible for the Maritime security of the UK maritime domain and overseas. The strategy's objectives therefore do not fall to any one Department. The National Maritime Security Committee oversees implementation of the strategy and directs delivery of the objectives. For Objective 5 specifically, the MOD along with other Departments and Agencies will conduct a National Maritime Coordination trial later this year which will explore how maritime surveillance can be optimised across different Departments. The trial will involve three Offshore Patrol Vessels from the Royal Navy.

Teachers: Veterans

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the advertising budget is for the Troops for Teachers campaign; and how much his Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase Troops for Teachers since January 2012.

Anna Soubry: The Troops to Teachers programme was formally announced in June 2013. The overall marketing spend to 31 December 2014 was £117,796. The table below details the breakdown of the specific marketing and advertising expenditure. Type of Advertising ExpenditureIncurred £Television0Newspaper17,036Online3,600Radio0*Other forms of advertising (this includes marketing materials and design; development of website and promotional video)97,160* The MOD did not incur any costs for the feature on British Forces Broadcasting Service.

Defence Discount Service

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the advertising budget is for the Defence Discount Service campaign; and how much his Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase Defence Discount Service since January 2012.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not incur any costs in respect of advertising the Defence Discount Service. Advertising the scheme is the responsibility of Blue Light Card Ltd which provides this service at no cost to the MOD.

D-day Landings

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2014 to Question 216388, if he will provide funding for Normandy Veterans to return to sites of Remembrance they choose rather than to sites chosen by the Royal British Legion as part of the D-Day Return scheme.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

D-day Landings

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2014 to Question 216388, if he will permit Normandy Veterans to apply for funding for independent travel to Normandy as part of the D-Day Return scheme.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

War Pensions

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recipients of war disablement pensions there are in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are in receipt of a war disablement pension in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Anna Soubry: The number of recipients of war disablement pensions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, can be found below:  CountryNumberEngland89,450Wales6,925Scotland11,890Northern Ireland3,680Other UK340UK Unknown345Not Known135Total112,765 Notes:1. Other UK includes Isle of Man and Channel Islands.2. In line with Defence Statistics’ Rounding Policy, all figures of five or more have been rounded to the nearest 5. Due to rounding, the figures provided may not sum to totals.

Army Reserve

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people serving in the Army Reserve left in each year since 2010.

Mr Julian Brazier: The available data on outflow from the Territorial Army (TA) for Financial Year (FY) 2011-12 was provided in an answer given by the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew Robathan) on 26 June 2012, (Official Report, column 196-197W) to the hon. Member for Shipley (Mr Davies). The outflow from the TA in FY 2011-12 (excluding the Officer Training Corps) was 5,720.Since then, outflow from the Army Reserves was 4,620 in FY 2012-13 and 3,430 in FY 2013-14.The year end total for FY 2014-15 will be released in the Quarterly Personnel Report which will be published in May 2015. The outflow from the Army Reserve for the first three quarters of FY 2014-15 was 2,710.



20120626 - Hansard extract on Territorial Army
(Word Document, 36 KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit sanctions were applied to claimants resident in (a) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, (b) South Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each month since July 2010.

Esther McVey: The available information is published at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) the UK and (b) Bradford West constituency have had jobseeker's allowance removed since June 2011.

Esther McVey: The information requested in respect of JSA sanctions data is published at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for SocialDevelopment. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Social Security Benefits

Mr George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission research on the effects of removing benefits from people and undertake to report the outcome of such work to the House.

Esther McVey: The Department does not remove benefits. A claimant may incur a sanction or become disentitled to their benefit if they do not meet their conditionality requirements. As with all our policies, we will continue to keep the operation of the sanctions system under review to ensure that it continues to operate effectively and as fairly as possible. We also continue to make improvements as committed to in the Oakley Review, which goes further than the scope of the Review, to include all jobseekers allowance and all employment and support allowance. We will continue to publish sanctions statistics on a quarterly basis.

Pest Control

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which chemicals authorised for use in pest control are detrimental to human health.

Mr Mark Harper: All chemicals authorised for use as pest control products are regulated under specific EU and UK legislation which require an assessment of the potential risks from the use of the product, with the aim of ensuring that they can be used without causing harm to people, animals or the wider environment. Where the risks to human health or the environment are unacceptable, products are not allowed to be placed on the market or used. Where the assessment shows the product can be used safely, no ill-health effects are expected from the correct use of the product as prescribed in the instructions on the product label.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many persons in the Support Group for Employment and Support Allowance have been called in each month since January 2013, for further work-focused interviews after already assessed as not fit for this kind of activity in each month since January 2013; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of such interviews.

Mr Mark Harper: Claimants placed in the Support Group have no obligation to attend Work Focused Interviews. We therefore do not hold information on those claimants invited for Work Focused Interviews.

Social Security Benefits

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 35099 of his Department's hardship payment guidance, if he will review that guidance.

Esther McVey: The hardship payment guidance reflects the current legislation, which has been in place since the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations were brought into effect in 1996. Whilst we keep our guidance under review, we have no current plans to change the paragraph referred to.

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was allocated by Jobcentre Plus district managers to local partnerships through the Flexible Support Fund in each year since 2011.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects that the new Data Warehouse intended to facilitate strategic management information reporting on the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) will come fully into operation; and for what reason the planned implementation date of 2014 anticipated in his Department's strategy for the publication of information about the 2012 CMS was not added to.

Steve Webb: The data warehouse capability intended to facilitate strategic management information reporting on the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) is being developed and implemented in stages. The first 2 stages of CMS 2012 management information using the data warehouse, covering information about 2012 Scheme Client Funds and Client Compliance, have been delivered. A third stage of delivery, using a strategic reporting capability, covering workflow management, is planned for delivery later in 2015. Delivery of this stage is also intended to inform proposals to develop further stages including their timing.

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the Flexible Support Fund on supporting jobseekers to travel to job interviews in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Flexible Support Fund will operate under universal credit.

Esther McVey: The Flexible Support Fund is already supporting Universal Credit claimants to move into work. District Managers and Work Coaches in areas where Universal Credit has rolled out have the discretion to use the Flexible Support Fund to remove barriers to help eligible claimants to gain employment or move closer to the labour market.

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent by the Flexible Support Fund on training for jobseekers in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fish: Poaching

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether the maximum penalties available for poaching fish in English and Welsh rivers are sufficient to deter people from committing that offence.

George Eustice: The maximum penalty of £50,000 for poaching fish currently in place in England and Wales continues to be considered appropriate in deterring people from committing that offence.

Sheep: Disease Control

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of sheep movement returns have been made (a) electronically and (b) on paper in each month since online returns were introduced.

George Eustice: The Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS) was launched on 1 April 2014. The Government’s target was to capture 70% of sheep/goat movements electronically within the first year of operation and to increase the proportion of electronic movements recorded (the date the movement was recorded on ARAMS) to 80% within 5 years.   The proportion of paper vs. electronic moves recorded each month so far on ARAMS is:   Percentage recorded on the Animal Reporting And Movement Service (ARAMS)MonthYearPaper %Electronic %April 201469.97%30.03%May201479.10%20.90%June201469.44%30.56%July201447.48%52.52%August201440.38%59.62%September201440.45%59.55%October201445.57%54.43%November201436.52%63.48%December201431.93%68.07%January201529.52%70.48%

Sheep: Tagging

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people and organisations have registered online for the sheep electronic identification database.

George Eustice: As at 6 February 2015 (10.30 am) the following registrations to use the new Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS) for England have been made:Assembly Centre Portal1Animal and Plant Health Agency10Abattoir Portal134Abattoir Third Party11ARAMS Bureau Admin17ARAMS Bureau Operator73Collection Centre Portal17Collection Centre Third Party2DEFRA13Farmer Portal7456Farmer Third Party455Local Authority Super User282Market Portal2Market Third Party78Rural Payments Agency55Show Portal9

Sheep: Tagging

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sheep farmers in the UK have the ability to read sheep electronic identification tags.

George Eustice: There are a range of options available to sheep keepers to manage individual recording. Electronic tags can be read by eye (manually recording the visible individual animal number) or electronically using an electronic reader. Keepers may also choose for electronically identified sheep, which must be individually recorded, to be read on their behalf at central point recording centres (CPRCs).   It is not possible to say how many sheep farmers in England have the ability to read electronic sheep tags electronically as this is dependent on the number of keepers that have purchased EID readers. Defra does not hold this information.

Meat: Ritual Slaughter

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the labelling requirements are for the sale of halal meat.

George Eustice: There are no specific EU or national requirements governing the sale and labelling of Halal meat but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer.   The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information available to them to make an informed choice about their food. We are awaiting the results of a European Commission study on method of slaughter labelling which is due within the next few months. We will look at possible options in light of that report.

Slaughterhouses

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to enforce humane standards in slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: We have in place legislation which sets down strict animal welfare rules within our slaughterhouses. Enforcement of this legislation is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency; enforcement is carried out by Official Veterinarians in every approved slaughterhouse. We are continuing to work closely with the Food Standards Agency to see how we can further improve the welfare standards in slaughterhouses.

Crans Montana Forum: Western Sahara

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has received an invitation to the Crans Montana Forum in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara; and whether she plans to send a representative to that forum.

Dan Rogerson: An invitation to the Forum in Dakhla has not been received.

Home Office

Travel

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office is performing well in reducing spending while protecting and improving our services. Against an 09/10 baseline, Government has saved £1.4billion through centralising arrangements for common goods and services. Since 2009/10 we hve reduced the use of taxis by over 30% and we have cut spending on first class rail travel by 92% since 2010/11. Between 2006-2010 and 2010-2014, we have cut spending on taxis by £1.4m, on first-class rail by £3m, and all air travel by £4m.The spend for taxis, first class train tickets and business class air travel in the last five years are as follows. Taxis*2009-2010 £768,623.662010-2011 £531,192.092011-2012 £318,944.832012-2013 £534,167.572013-2014 £529,919.39First Class Train Tickets**2010-2011 £203,884.122011-2012 £26,051.222012-2013 £23,232.632013-2014 £22,934.14Business Class Air Travel***2010-2011 £678,187.042011-2012 £861,537.432012-2013 £667,298.692013-2014 £1,010,037.59It is not possible to separately identify the cost of first class train tickets and business class air travel in 2009/2010.

Immigration: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unresolved (a) asylum and (b) immigration cases there were in each (i) parliamentary constituency and (ii) local authority area in Scotland since May 2010, up to the latest period for which figures are available in 2013.

Karen Bradley: The number of outstanding asylum and immigration cases recorded as associated with each Scottish parliamentary constituency can be found at Table 1 below. The number of outstanding cases recorded as associated with each Scottish local authority area can be found in Table 2. The figures that have been provided below relate to main applicants who have made an immigration application or an asylum claim between 1 May 2010 - 31 December 2013, and whose claim was recorded as unresolved on 31 December 2013. For data protection purposes, cohorts of fewer than 10 people have been indicated with a *.   The data has been compiled by identifying the latest valid postcode on the Case Information Database (CID). For Scottish postcodes, this was then matched to the ONS Postcode database to associate it with a parliamentary constituency and local authority as far as possible. This postcode is the most recently recorded postcode for correspondence purposes and may not be represent the applicant’s of place of residence or be the same postcode provided at the time of applying.Table 1Number of outstanding asylum and immigration cases by constituency ConstituencyImmigrationAsylumAberdeen North36915Aberdeen South211*Airdrie and Shotts24*Angus18*Argyll and Bute31*Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock30*Banff and Buchan42*Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk28*Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross11*Central Ayrshire33*Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill31*Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East16*Dumfries and Galloway21*Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale14*Dundee East55*Dundee West143*Dunfermline and West Fife35*East Dunbartonshire34*East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow5816East Lothian36*East Renfrewshire430Edinburgh East25523Edinburgh North and Leith28920Edinburgh South121*Edinburgh South West41518Edinburgh West96*Falkirk43*Glasgow Central769277Glasgow East87246Glasgow North238184Glasgow North East256416Glasgow North West15861Glasgow South140106Glasgow South West169221Glenrothes32*Gordon58*Inverclyde180Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey43*Kilmarnock and Loudoun10*Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath44*Lanark and Hamilton East25*Linlithgow and East Falkirk54*Livingston61*Midlothian320Moray25*Motherwell and Wishaw75*Na h-Eileanan an Iar100North Ayrshire and Arran17*North East Fife550Ochil and South Perthshire240Orkney and Shetland11*Paisley and Renfrewshire North50*Paisley and Renfrewshire South119*Perth and North Perthshire49*Ross, Skye and Lochaber**Rutherglen and Hamilton West51*Stirling53*West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine43*West Dunbartonshire35*Not able to determine139*   Table 2 Number of outstanding asylum and immigration cases by local authority   Local AuthorityImmigrationAsylumAberdeen City61925Aberdeenshire112*Angus21*Argyll and Bute31*City of Edinburgh118276Clackmannanshire100Dumfries and Galloway30*Dundee City19712East Ayrshire19*East Dunbartonshire36*East Lothian36*East Renfrewshire460Eilean Siar100Falkirk52*Fife16611Glasgow City18191512Highland6210Inverclyde180Midlothian320Moray25*North Ayrshire32*North Lanarkshire14417Orkney Islands50Perth and Kinross63*Renfrewshire16910Scottish Borders33*Shetland Islands6*South Ayrshire39*South Lanarkshire13431Stirling53*West Dunbartonshire35*West Lothian107*Not able to determine1160

Crimes of Violence: Females

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether central government funding for telephone helplines tackling violence against women and girls will be renewed before May 2015.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations tackling violence against women and girls receive central government funding for a telephone helpline; and when the funding for each organisation is due to end.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when each organisation tackling violence against women and girls receiving central government funding for a telephone helpline will be told whether the funding for that helpline will be renewed.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 02 February 2015



Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a key priority for this government, and ring-fenced funding of £40million is a critical part of our VAWG strategy and action plans. Of this ring-fenced funding, over £900,000 per year has been provided to support the following free phone national helplines: the National Stalking Helpline run by Suzy Lamplugh Trust; the National Domestic Violence Helpline run jointly by Women's Aid and Refuge; Broken Rainbow, who offer help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims; the Male Advice(and Enquiry)Line and the RESPECT helpline.We are currently giving careful consideration to future funding options and a decision will be announced in coming weeks.

Dorset Police

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the performance of Dorset Police in meeting the standards required by its service level agreement with the Disclosure and Barring Service; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The Department receives monthly updates on the performance of police forces, including Dorset police, in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) works closely with any forces which miss their SLA targets.The number and proportion of police disclosure checks completed by Dorset police against the 14, 18, 25 and 60 days SLA targets for the six months from June to November 2014 is provided in the table below.  Dorset Police: number and proportion of disclosure checks completed in 14, 18, 25 and 60 days Within 14 DaysWithin 18 DaysWithin 25 DaysWithin 60 DaysPeriodNo.%No.%No.%No.%June to November 20144604.0%1,87417.0%3,31731.0%9,01684.0%

Asylum: Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants receiving support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 have been receiving that support for more than (a) two, (b) four and (c) six years; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The total number of main applicants supported under Section 4 is now well below the peak of 12,019 in the Quarter 3 of 2009, standing at 3,566 in the Quarter 3 of 2014.The number of main asylum claimants receiving Section 4 support for more than two, four and six years is set out in the table below.  DurationNumber of peopleMore than 2 years and up to 4 years1,405More than 4 years and up to 6 years869More than 6 years 329  



PQ 223236 - Data Table 
(Word Document, 11.84 KB)

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Questions 221902, how many of the asylum claimants referred to in the Answer were granted leave to remain in the UK.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 221902 stated that of the human trafficking victims who received positive conclusive grounds decisions in 2012 and 2013, 234 and 220 victims applied for asylum respectively.This answer was based on Home Office internal management information extracted in June 2014. To answer the current question, the dataset has been fully refreshed, and updated to now include victims who have applied for asylumsince June 2014. As such, the latest data shows that of those who received positive conclusive grounds decisions in 2012 and 2013, 235 and 270 victims respectively have since applied for asylum.Of the 235 victims of trafficking who received a positive conclusive grounds decision in 2012 and have since applied for asylum, 156 have been granted asylum.Of the 270 victims of trafficking who received a positive conclusive grounds decision in 2013 and have since applied for asylum, 126 have been granted asylum.

Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to appoint the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



I refer my honourable Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement of the Home Secretary on 10 February 2015. Reference HCWS274.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted discretionary leave to remain in the last three years have subsequently been (a) granted and (b) refused a further grant of leave to remain.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



In the three years up to September 2014, 101 people were granted further leave to remain following an initial grant of discretionary leave to remain, whilst 190 people were refused a further grant of leave to remain. This applies to those individuals who were granted discretionary leave to remain between October 2011 and September 2014, and who during that period have received a decision on a subsequent application for further leave to remain. A grant of further leave to remain may include the following; a grant of asylum, humanitarian protection, discretionary leave, further leave as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child or leave to remain on the basis of an individual’s private and/or family life.

Immigration Controls

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of how many (a) pleasure, (b) class XII and (c) other small vessels enter UK ports of entry each year without (i) passport and (ii) physical checks.

Karen Bradley: Border Force adopts an intelligence led approach to responding to General Maritime traffic. Border Force works with the National Crime Agency and other partners to identify threats from General Maritime traffic and uses intelligence to intercept General Maritime craft that are attempting to smuggle contraband material or illegal immigrants into the country. There is no current legal requirement for advance passenger information for the leisure sector of maritime traffic. Persons arriving directly from within the European Economic Area (EEA) on a pleasure craft are only required to notify Border Force if they have a person onboard who is not a British Citizen or national of the EEA, or if they have goods to declare. It is therefore not possible to estimate the number of vessels that have entered UK ports that do not have a requirement to notify.

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that the gender of the (a) perpetrator and (b) victim of incidents marked as domestic violence cases are recorded along with the nature of the domestic relationship in each case.

Lynne Featherstone: We are taking steps to strengthen data collection in relation to all recorded crimes where domestic violence and abuse is involved. From April 2015, the Home Office will require the police through the annual data requirement to record the gender of the victim and the nature of the domestic relationship for all violent and sexual crimes. To minimise burdens on the police, we have no plans to collect data on the gender of a perpetrator of domestic abuse.We will be working with the police throughout 2015 to ensure that the same data can be collected in relation to recorded incidents of domestic abuse.

Business: Fraud

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen police action against business fraud.

Karen Bradley: Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and cyber crime. It takes reports of crimes from members of the public and businesses online or via its dedicated helpline. These reports are then analysed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), which looks for links between separate victims of the same scams, and matches information in Action Fraud reports with other data it holds. The NFIB then prepares intelligence packages and sends these to the police force best placed to consider enforcement action. It also carries out work to disrupt the enablers of this criminality, such as having websites used by criminals taken down.Both Action Fraud and the NFIB are part of the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud. The Government brought Action Fraud into the City of London Police in April 2014 to strengthen the end-to-end process for reporting and analysis of these crimes. Action Fraud also has two dedicated single points of contact for business, and continues to host open days for industry and attend business events to ensure understanding, share protective advice and foster close relationships. Action Fraud also circulates real-time information on the latest fraud threats via its website, social media channels and though police forces and businesses.The Government is also working closely with law enforcement agencies, industry and third sector partners to support individuals and businesses to be better protected. This includes national and local level action to increase their awareness of the risks and adopting safe online behaviours. The Cyber Streetwise awareness campaign, funded by the National Cyber Security Programme, helps individuals and businesses understand how to stay safe online. The second phase of the campaign, including a refreshed website and online materials, launched in October last year. The Government’s Cyber Information Sharing Partnership, within CERT-UK, is also enabling industry to share information on online threats including fraud, helping to reduce their vulnerability and the impact of online fraud on UK businesses.The Home Office has introduced the Commercial Victimisation Survey to better understand and monitor crime against businesses, including fraud and online crime. Findings from the 2012 and 2013 surveys have been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/crime-against-businessesFindings from the 2014 survey will be published on 23rd April 2015.

British Nationality: North West

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is for her Department to process applications for people who are seeking British nationality.

Karen Bradley: The average processing time for applications for British citizenship is 70 days from receipt of application to decision.These figures are for the year 1 October 2013 – 30 September 2014, in line with the latest published data.This compares with a peak average waiting time of 100 days from 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009.

British Nationality

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people seeking British nationality have been waiting more than (a) nine months and (b) one year for their application to be processed having paid all due fees.

Karen Bradley: (a) between 9 – 12 months 369 people.(b) More than 12 months 487 people.These figures are as of the end of September 2014, in line with the latest published data.This compares with a peak in 2007-08 of 2592 people waiting between 9 and 12 months and 4166 people waiting more than 12 months.

Drugs: Smuggling

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which department has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy, working closely with a range of other departments and agencies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Crime Agency and the Department for International Development.

Police Federation for Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last met representatives of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland.

Mike Penning: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website:http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

Licensing Laws

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which licensing authorities have introduced a late night levy in each of the last four years; and how much she estimates the levy has raised in each such authority in each of those years.

Lynne Featherstone: Licensing authorities have had the power to introduce a late night levy since October 2012. Seven authorities have decided to do so, as set out in the table below. Licensing authorities are not obliged to provide data on levy income to central government. Therefore, the information on income is not available in the form requested. However, a number of authorities have published estimates of different kinds. For example, prior to implementation, Newcastle City Council estimated that the levy will raise £320,000 annually and Cheltenham Borough Council estimated that the levy has the potential to raise annual gross income of £199,000.Licensing authority Levy start dateNewcastle 01 November 2013Cheltenham 01 April 2014City of London 01October 2014Chelmsford 01 November 2014Nottingham 01 November 2014Islington 01 November 2014Southampton 01 April 2015

Cybercrime

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces (a) have a strategy and (b) are properly trained to respond to cybercrime; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave to him on 14 January 2015 in response to questions 220035 and 220043.

Offences against Children: Internet

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations into online child abuse have been delayed for 12 months or longer after being reported to the National Crime Agency; and how long the average delay is in investigating such cases.

Karen Bradley: Every referral of child sexual abuse reported to the National Crime Agency (NCA) is thoroughly assessed and developed. All cases where potential suspects are identified are disseminated to a UK police force, actioned by the NCA, or disseminated to a foreign jurisdiction via Interpol. It is for each of the recipients to assess the intelligence and potential for prosecution and to take executive action appropriately. Information on these investigations is not held centrally, except for NCA investigations. No investigations by the NCA into online child sexual abuse have been subject to delays of 12 months or longer since its inception on 7 October 2013.

Lancashire Constabulary

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were in front-line service with the Lancashire Constabulary (a) in 2010 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: According to definitions set by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, in March 2010 there were 3097 police officers working in front line policing roles in Lancashire Constabulary, representing 88 per cent of the police officer workforce. According to the force’s workforce plans, this number is expected to be 2806 by March 2015, or 93 per cent of police officers.

Passports

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied for British passports through the passport section of the British Embassy in Dublin between 2011 and 2014.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held by the Home Office. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office were responsible for deciding overseas passport applications prior to 2014.

Asylum: Syria

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the largest number of displaced people, rather than resettlement. We have now pledged £800 million in response to the crisis, and UK funding is helping hundreds of thousands of people across the region. However, we recognise that there are some very vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively in the region. We therefore launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme to complement our aid by providing protection in the UK to some of those at greatest risk. Groups of Syrians are arriving in the UK on a regular basis under the scheme, including people in severe need of medical care, survivors of torture and violence and women and children at risk. We have made our position on Syrian resettlement clear in relevant discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Minister for Immigration and Security and the recently-appointed UNHCR Representative to the UK met on 21 January to discuss Syria and other issues. We have also explained our approach to resettlement in relevant international discussions, including the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014. The Government regularly liaises with the UNHCR regarding the operation of the VPR scheme. We continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify some of the most vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and bring them to the UK.

Antisocial Behaviour

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many anti-social behaviour injunctions have been issued in each quarter of the last two years for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of anti-social behaviour injunctions. The data available relate to the number of anti-social behaviour orders issued on an annual basis by the courts. These are attached and are also available at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355120/anti-social-behaviour-order-statistics-england-and-wales-2013.ods   



Data 1
(Excel SpreadSheet, 661.5 KB)




Data 2
(Excel SpreadSheet, 653.5 KB)

Primates: Imports

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 222873, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK users who acquire non-human primates ensure breeders and suppliers they deal with have proper controls and processes in place; how such controls and processes are monitored; and how many UK users have been found not to have sufficient controls and processes in place.

Lynne Featherstone: We have taken a number of steps to gain assurances about the quality of non-human primates being imported for research within the legal constraints available to us. We have emphasised to those UK users who acquire these primates that they are responsible for ensuring that the breeders and suppliers they deal with have proper controls and processes in place. In order to be assured that these animals are of appropriate quality for the work authorised on their project licences, they need to be confident of high standards of care and welfare. We are aware that, in recent years, these UK users have routinely visited and inspected their overseas primate breeders, and that they do indeed demand these high standards. We are encouraging this to continue. Home Office Inspectors assigned to establishments holding and using imported primates play a key role in monitoring the situation. Through inspection visits and other contact with animal care staff, inspectors maintain awareness of the importations of primates, both consignments already acquired and those due. This enables appropriately timed inspections to be carried out to monitor the quality of animals being acquired. We also expect the local inspector to be notified promptly in the event of any significant health or welfare problems which may occur following arrival of an importation of primates. Should a particular source be shown to be delivering primates of unacceptable quality from the perspective of their health and welfare, we will deal with this through the relevant licence authorisation. No UK users have been found to have insufficient controls and processes in place.

Dog Fighting

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage police forces to allocate adequate resources towards reducing the incidence of dog fighting.

Mike Penning: Whilst the government takes the issue of dog fighting seriously, the allocation of police resources to tackle this abhorrent practice is a matter for individual police forces, and we have introduced Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure that police force priorities across England and Wales better reflect those of the communities they serve.

HM Treasury

Sanitary Protection: VAT

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on womens sanitary products.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK applies a 5% reduced rate of VAT, the lowest permissible under EU law, to the supply of sanitary products.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Coal Gasification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussion his Department has had with HM Treasury on the viability of the development and operation of deep offshore underground coal gasification projects from licences issued by the Coal Authority.

Matthew Hancock: Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is an emerging technology and there are currently no commercial projects. We are working across Government to assess the opportunities provided by UCG.

Energy: Multiple Occupation

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of homes under multiple occupancy that are covered by the regulations fobidding landlords to let properties that are below Energy Performance Certificate E after 2018.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the finding of the Evaluation of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment Scheme Phase Two, published by his Department on 28 January 2015, that 78 per cent of renewable heating installations in private homes were likely or very likely to have gone ahead in the absence of subsidy, what assessment he has made of the scope to revise that scheme to ensure better value for money.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fossil Fuels: Prices

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2015 to Question 221753, whether his Department's three fossil fuel price projections used in policy-making include a projection in which the recent change in fossil fuel prices resembling the recent worldwide fall in such prices.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Voluntary Work: Young People

Bob Stewart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has for the National Citizen Service in Beckenham constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson: Over 300 young people took part in National Citizen Service (NCS) in Beckenham and surrounding area in 2014.This year will again see NCS programmes taking place in every local authority across England and in Northern Ireland. The government is committed to giving as many young people as possible the chance to take part in NCS and the significant growth of that the programme has seen so far is set to continue in 2015.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Toby Perkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many retired civil servants are awaiting a pension estimate from myCSP.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average length of time taken to provide a Civil Service pension estimate by (a) Capita and (b) myCSP was.

Mr Francis Maude: Pension estimates are provided to members of the Civil Service pension scheme by MyCSP Ltd. Statistics on the average length of time taken to provide estimates and how many retired civil servants are awaiting a pension estimate are not routinely kept.

Cybercrime

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to protect organisations and businesses in the UK from cybercrime and large-scale cyber-attack.

Mr Francis Maude: I refer my Rt hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on Thursday 11 December 2014 to the House; “Third Annual Report on Progress on the UK Cyber Security Strategy: Protecting and Promoting the UK in a Digital World” and the accompanying progress report “The UK Cyber Security Strategy: Report on progress and forward plans – December 2014”.

Civil Servants: Equal Opportunities

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 2.2 of the report The Performance of the Cabinet Office 2013-14, published by the National Audit Office in November 2014, when he expects the reports commissioned by his Department on examining the barriers faced by people (a) who declare disabilities, (b) from minority ethnic backgrounds and (c) who are LGBT in the civil service to be published.

Mr Francis Maude: All three reports will be published in the coming weeks.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the nature and the extent of voluntary work undertaken as part of the National Citizen Service in England.

Mr Rob Wilson: Since 2011 over 130,000 young people have taken part in National Citizen Service (NCS), giving an estimated 3.2 million hours of volunteering to their communities. This has consisted of over 8,000 social action projects ranging from the renovation of community spaces, to charity fundraising events. The independent evaluation of the NCS programme also demonstrates that it is creating a movement of young people who feel a greater responsibility towards their community and who are more likely to help out locally in the future.

Local Government: Training

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of commissioners from local government have attended the Commissioning Academy; and by which local authorities those commissioners are employed.

Mr Francis Maude: Through its programme of Civil Service Reform, the Government is taking urgent action to address long-standing skills gaps in the Civil Service. Our pioneering Commissioning Academy is building commercial capability across the public sector, and improving how public services are delivered. To date 392 individuals have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 206 (52%) from central government. In the last year there was a 50% increase in demand for places on the programme, and it will be expanded to deliver 1,500 places by March 2016. Commissioners have attended from the following local authorities: Basildon Borough Council Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council Birmingham City Council Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council Bristol City Council Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group Cheltenham Borough Council Cherwell District, South Northants and Stratford on Avon Councils Cheshire East Council Cheshire West and Chester Council Cheshire West and Chester (a place-based group) Cumbria County Council Devon County Council Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Essex County Council Fenland District Council Gloucestershire County Council Harborough District Council Horsham District Council Kent County Council Knowsley Council (Health and Social Care Integration) Lancashire County Council Leicestershire County Council London Borough of Barnet London Borough of Haringey London Borough of Lambeth London Borough of Lewisham London Borough of Sutton London Borough of Waltham Forest Lowestoft Rising (Place based group) Manchester City Council Milton Keynes Council Norfolk County Council Northamptonshire County Council Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council Shropshire Somerset County Council Southend-on-sea Borough Council Staffordshire County Council Stoke-On-Trent City Council Suffolk Coastal Sunderland City Council Surrey County Council Swindon Borough Council Tamworth Borough Council Tri-borough councils: Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Walsall Council Warrington Borough Council Waverley Borough Council West Sussex County Council Westminster City Council Wirral Council Worcestershire County Council A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella. 78 officials have attended local programmes in Norfolk and Staffordshire, modelled on the central programme, with participants drawn from local authorities and other public sector bodies in the local area. In addition, 8 councillors have attended a streamlined programme for Local Authority elected members.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish his response to the Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy consultation, published on 6 August 2014.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The consultation closed in October 2014. As stated in the update to the National Infrastructure Plan published in December 2014 we intend to publish our response to the consultation in 2015.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Fiftieth Report of Session 2013-14 from the Committee of Public Accounts, the rural broadband programme, HC 834, what work his Department has done with local authorities to identify in its rollout of broadband (a) alternative solutions, (b) opportunities for joint working, (c) ways to obtain fair capital contributions from suppliers and (d) other support to promote competition and value for money in its rural broadband rollout.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department undertook extensive market engagement prior to start of phase 2 of the superfast broadband programme. It also consulted with 45 Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations. This review found that no operator other than BT currently had the capacity, capability and interest to deliver at a national scale. The Department therefore continued with its previous delivery model which allows Local Bodies to take responsibility for procurements using either the national framework contract with BT, new OJEU procurements, or change requests to existing contracts (subject to materiality limits). Four Local Bodies are undertaking their own OJEU procurements to test local markets and up to ten Local Bodies have kept aside part of their funding which they may deploy using alternative procurement routes. The Department is also supporting eight market test projects to explore new approaches to delivery to premises which will not be within the 95 per cent of premises covered by the main superfast broadband programme. As set out in the National Audit Office’s memorandum of 28 January 2015, a recent independent review of BT’s costs for delivery of a sample of cabinets which was carried out for the Department has found these to be around 20 per cent lower than those of a typical efficient operator. The Department is confident that the broadband programme is delivering value for money.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the first two phases of the rural broadband project on BT's position on the wholesale access market.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The first two phases of the superfast broadband programme will provide superfast broadband wholesale access to over 5 million premises. Ofcom is responsible for assessing the functioning of the wholesale access market.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Fiftieth Report of Session 2013-14 from the Committee of Public Accounts, the rural broadband programme, HC 834, what steps he has taken to ensure that BT's bid prices for Phase II contracts of the rural broadband  programme are reasonable and do not contain excessive contingency; whether he has sought an explanation from BT on the differences between the actual costs of a previous programme and costs included in tender bids; what steps his Department has taken to obtain further information in bid responses on cost drivers, unit costs and reasons for cost variations and assurance from BT about how economies of scale are being passed to the public sector; and whether his Department has carried out external benchmarking of prices in that project to industry standards of a should-cost model.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department has used the evidence on costs that it has gained during implementation of phase 1 of the superfast broadband programme to inform the phase 2 tendering process. As set out in the National Audit Office’s memorandum of 28 January, it has agreed a new reference model for phase 2 of the programme with BT which has reduced costs by 13 per cent. The Department has recently carried out a second independent benchmarking review which has investigated BT’s costs for delivery of a sample of cabinets. This has found BT’s costs to be around 20 per cent lower than those of a typical efficient operator. This is in large part a result of BT’s economies of scale and the fact that it has won almost all the contracts to date.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Black Country and South Yorkshire Project Areas have been signed to non-disclosure agreements regarding BT's costs on Phase II of the rural broadband project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Black Country and South Yorkshire project teams have complete visibility of all BT’s costs and how these relate to the deployment of each element of the project. BDUK has the same data for all the broadband projects delivered under the framework contract with BT, and BDUK provides detailed cost comparison reports to each local project team allowing them to compare their costs with those of the other projects across the rest of the country. This allows any costs which look out of the ordinary to be identified and investigated further with BT. BT is only paid for incremental eligible capital expenditure required for delivery of the programme. As set out in the National Audit Office’s memorandum of 28 January 2015, a recent independent review of BT’s costs for delivery of a sample of cabinets which was carried out for BDUK has found these to be around 20 per cent lower than those of a typical efficient operator.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the National Audit Office on implementing the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office on rural broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department provided information to the National Audit Office on its progress with implementing the previous recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office prior to the publication by the National Audit Office of its memorandum on the superfast broadband programme on 28 January 2015.

Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's webpage entitled Broadband Delivery UK, by what specific dates he plans to provide basic broadband (2 Mbs) for all in 2016, provide superfast broadband (24 Mbs) coverage to 90 per cent of the UK in 2016, and provide superfast broadband to 95 per cent of the UK by 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department estimates that by the end of 2015 fewer than 1 per cent of UK premises will have access to speeds of less than 2Mbps, down from 11 per cent in 2010. The Department is developing plans to enable these remaining premises to have access to speeds of more than 2Mbps by December 2015. The Department estimates that 90 per cent of UK premises will have access to speeds of more than 24Mbps by early 2016, and that 95 per cent will have access to these speeds by December 2017.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to issue a response to the National Audit Office update of 28 January 2015 on rural broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The National Audit Office’s memorandum will be considered by the Public Accounts Committee as part of its evidence regarding delivery of the superfast broadband programme, together with the evidence provided by officials and BT at the meeting of the committee which was was held on 28 January. The Department will respond to any recommendations from the committee in the normal way.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to roll out superfast broadband in rural areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government and local authorities and the devolved administrations are investing a total of £1.7 billion to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of the UK by 2017, through a total of 51 locally-led projects.The Government is also exploring with suppliers options to get beyond 95% superfast broadband coverage across the UK through a series of pilot projects. These pilot projects are testing technology, financial and operating models capable of delivering superfast broadband to the hardest to reach parts of the UK.More information on the pilot projects is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/superfast-broadband-programme-phase-3Expected superfast broadband coverage by 2017 in the Lancashire project area will be over 97%. Central government has invested £14,670,000 into the Lancashire project with further funding being provided locally including funding from the European Regional Development Programme together with investment from BT. This funding is expected to provide coverage to over 145,000 premises. As of December 2014 106,000 premises had been passed.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2014 to Question 222384, on broadband, what the digital and video on demand outlets were and how much was spent with Facebook.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2014 to Question 222384, whether regional data is available on any of the campaign spend.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to inform older people about the implications of digital radio switchover.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government set out its plans for digital radio in December 2013. We have always been clear that the listener is at the heart of any decision in relation to a digital radio switchover. With digital radio listening under 40% we concluded it was not the right time to announce a switchover or set any dates.Whilst we are fully committed to a digital future for the UK, a decision about the timetable for a future switchover will only be considered once 50 per cent of all radio listening is on digital platforms and local and national DAB coverage matches FM.As part of the Digital Radio Action Plan, DCMS worked with the Consumer Experts Group (originally formed to inform the digital TV switchover process) which included representatives from a number of consumer organisations*, including Age UK, in order to ensure the policy on digital radio takes account of a wide range of listeners needs. A paper by the Consumer Experts Group was published by DCMS and is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-scheme-digital-radio-action-plan. The Government will take account of this paper as part of a future consideration of a switchover.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Buildings

Diana Johnson: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how much is being spent on works between Canon Row and Norman Shaw North; and what benefits to the functioning of the House will result from those works.

John Thurso: The value of the contract works for resurfacing the Canon Row carriageway and the pavings around the north and west sides of Norman Shaw North is £372,857 excluding VAT.The paving stones in both Canon Row and around Norman Shaw North are either lifting or breaking up. By relaying the carriageways in asphalt rather than replacing the stones, future maintenance costs will be reduced. In addition, the provision of a smooth surface will make it easier and safer to walk on (there having been several reported trips and slips) and to move heavy items in and out of the buildings. The opportunity is being taken to improve the cycle parking area to allow for a potential increase in cycle usage.

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register: Foreign Nationals

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what government guidance has been issued to local authorities on the removal of foreign nationals and duplicate entries from the electoral register in response to the introduction of individual electoral registration.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Electoral Commission has responsibility for providing guidance to Electoral Registration Officers on the conduct of this aspect of electoral registration; the current guidance may be found on the Commission’s website at: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/

Department of Health

Tobacco: Packaging

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the introduction of standardised tobacco products.

Jane Ellison: The Department published a consultation stage Impact Assessment, which assesses the costs and benefits of standardised packaging of tobacco products, on 26 June 2014.   A final Impact Assessment will be published shortly.

Asthma

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will implement the recommendations of the Royal College of Physicians National Review of Asthma Deaths published in May 2014.

Jane Ellison: We have welcomed the report of the UK National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) Confidential Inquiry which provides a wealth of information about the causes of mortality from asthma.   While deaths rates from asthma have fallen steadily over the past three decades, and the number of deaths are small compared with those from cancer and heart disease, we are concerned about the proportion of deaths in children and young people that could be preventable.   The new NHS Mandate for 2015-16 says that every patient with a long-term condition, including asthma and other respiratory conditions, should be offered a personalised care action plan. They and their families or carers should know the right medications to use at the right times and how to use them, and to understand the importance of monitoring their condition and how to do this.   NHS England is also working with strategic clinical networks on a programme specifically designed to tackle the issues raised in the NRAD recommendations on paediatric asthma.

Health Services: Older People

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 222919, how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) social workers and (d) psychiatrists with specialist skills in elderly care have retired since 2005.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the number of social workers with specialist skills in elderly care who have retired since 2005. Neither does the Department hold information on the number of nurses specialising in elderly care as these cannot be identified separately in the National Health Service workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.   The table attached shows the number of doctors in the specialties of geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry who have retired between 2008-09 and 2013-14. 



Doctors retired between 2008-09 & 2013-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 24.49 KB)

General Practitioners: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each local authority in Lancashire are waiting to be placed on a GP surgery list.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally. Patients are entitled to register with any general practitioner practice as long as they live within the practice’s catchment area and the practice has an open list.

Dental Services: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each local authority area in Lancashire are waiting for a place  with a NHS dentist.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information on patients who are waiting to see a National Health Service dentist is not held centrally nor is the data collected at Area Team level.

Heart Diseases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many admissions to hospital with a (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis of coronary heart disease per head of population there were in (i) each clinical commissioning group and its predecessor organisation and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 12 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The following tables show the number of admissions to hospital with a primary and secondary diagnosis of coronary heart disease by primary care trust of treatment for the years 2004/05 to 2012/13; by clinical commissioning group of treatment for 2013/14 and for England as a whole. 



No. of adnissions - CHD
(Excel SpreadSheet, 118.2 KB)

Jane Ellison: The following tables show the number of admissions to hospital with a primary and secondary diagnosis of coronary heart disease by primary care trust of treatment for the years 2004/05 to 2012/13; by clinical commissioning group of treatment for 2013/14 and for England as a whole. 



No. of adnissions - CHD
(Excel SpreadSheet, 118.2 KB)

Medicine: Research

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the outcomes to NHS England arising from his Department's £3.5 billion investment in the life sciences industry, announced on 20 November 2014.

George Freeman: The success of the life sciences industry is a key part of the Government’s wider growth strategy. The Government has made significant investments to support the success of the sector including around £1 billion a year in science and research council funding, over £500 million annually from the National Institute for Health Research for world-class research infrastructure in the National Health Service and through the work Genomics England is doing to deliver the 100,000 Genomes Project.   As announced on 20 November 2014, the United Kingdom life sciences have attracted £3.5 billion of private sector investment since my Rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, launched the strategy for UK life sciences in December 2011.   That investment benefits the UK in a number of ways. It benefits the economy more widely and, critically, it benefits the NHS and patients through the development of innovative drugs and novel technologies and through faster access to cutting-edge treatments through clinical trials.   We have made no assessment of the impact on NHS England of this private sector investment.

Hospitals: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients received delayed transfers of care in Lancashire NHS Trust hospitals in (a) 2014, (b) 2013, (c) 2012, (d) 2011 and (e) 2010.

Norman Lamb: Information is not collected on the total number of patients that were delayed in each year.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to clinical commissioning groups on consulting local people before taking the decision to close walk-in centres.

Jane Ellison: The Department has not issued guidance to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on walk-in-centres. NHS England has responsibility for oversight of CCGs and has published ‘Planning and delivering service changes for patients’, a good practice guide for commissioners on the development of proposals for major service changes and reconfigurations, which can be found here:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/plan-del-serv-chge1.pdf   The reconfiguration of local health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. All service changes should be led by clinicians and be in the best interests of patients, not driven from the top down.   It is for NHS commissioners and providers to work together, with local authorities, patients and the public, in bringing forward proposals that will improve the quality, safety and sustainability of healthcare services.   It is also worth noting the relevant report by Monitor which found that reasons for closing walk-in centres include replacing them with co-located urgent care centres and hospital accident and emergency sites, for example. The British Medical Associations evidence to that report said ‘there is no clear evidence that walk-in centres are meeting unmet need’.

Hospitals: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancelled operations the Lancashire NHS Teaching Trust recorded in (a) 2014, (b) 2013, (c) 2012, (d) 2011 and (e) 2010.

Jane Ellison: NHS England routinely publish the relevant data on this link:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancelled-elective-operations/cancelled-ops-data/

NHS Walk-in Centres: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS walk-in centres have been closed in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The requested information is not collected centrally. Since 2007, the local National Health Service has been responsible for NHS walk-in-centres. It is for local commissioners to decide on the availability of these services.

NHS 111: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in Preston called the NHS 111 helpline in 2014.

Jane Ellison: NHS England collects data for the whole of the North West of England. In this area, which includes Preston, the NHS 111 service is provided by the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Fylde Coast Medical Services. There were 961,859 calls in 2014. 795,453 of these were handled by the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and 166,406 by Fylde Coast Medical Services.   Source: NHS 111 monthly minimum data set from NHS England, NHS 111 monthly publication at www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/category/statistics/nhs-111-statistics.

Speech Therapy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many speech and language therapists were employed in England and Wales by (a) the NHS and (b) all providers in each year since 2005.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The number of speech and language therapists employed in the National Health Service in England in each year since 2005 is set out in the attached table and indicates an increase of 167 speech and language therapists between September 2010 and October 2014.   The provision of health services in the United Kingdom is a devolved issue. Information on the number of speech and language therapists in Wales may be available online at the following address:   http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/?lang=en   The Department does not hold information on all providers of speech and language therapy services in England and Wales.   The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists 2014 Census of its members found that 25% reported that their primary role was not commissioned by the NHS. A further 22% are estimated to be working in secondary roles not commissioned by the NHS. These roles were distributed across a number of areas such as; working in education, third sector charities, justice sector, research, as private practitioners or in social care. 



NHS HCHS: Speech and language therapy 2005-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.98 KB)

NHS Walk-in Centres

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS walk-in centres there were in (a) May 2010 and (b) the latest month for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The requested information is not collected centrally. Since 2007, the local National Health Service has been responsible for NHS walk-in-centres. It is for local commissioners to decide on the availability of these services.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many type one A&E departments there were in (a) May 2010 and (b) the latest month for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Performance data for all type one accident and emergency (A&E) departments is published weekly on the NHS England website at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity   The number of type one A&E departments is not held centrally. However, A&E activity data is collected at provider organisation level from National Health Service trusts, NHS foundation trusts and independent sector organisations.

Nurses: Training

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places for (a) midwives, (b) adult nurses, (c) children's nurses, (d) learning disabilities nurses and (e) mental health nurses were (i) commissioned and (ii) filled in each year since 2010-11.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The latest hospital and community health services monthly workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that there has been an increase of over 6,300 in the nursing, midwifery and health visiting group between May 2010 and October 2014. This includes nearly 2,000 more midwives, over 3,000 more health visitors and over 1,300 more nurses.   The following table shows the number of places that were commissioned and filled as at 31 March in each year since 2004/05.   Midwives 2004/5 Planned2004/05 Actual2005/06 Planned2005/06 Actual2006/07 Planned2006/07 Actual2007/08 Planned2007/08 Actual2,4252,3742,3801,8192,1701,9902,1152,0712008/09 Planned2008/09 Actual2009/10 Planned2009/10 Actual2010-11 Planned2010-11 Actual2011-12Planned2011-12 Actual  2,2742,2722,5372,4822,4932,4882,5072,4842012-13 Planned2012-13 Actual2013-14 Planned2013-14 Actual2014-15 Planned   2,5782,5802,5882,5402,563  Adult nurses 2004/5 Planned2004/05 Actual2005/06 Planned2005/06 Actual2006/07 Planned2006/07 Actual2007/08 Planned2007/08 Actual16,33415,81016,85014,14915,68714,40614,79613,0262008/09 Planned2008/09 Actual2009/10 Planned2009/10 Actual2010-11 Planned2010-11 Actual2011-12Planned2011-12 Actual  14,87314,17614,50614,04813,74413,70312,01711,9592012-13 Planned2012-13 Actual2013-14 Planned2013-14 Actual2014-15 Planned   11,50911,285120,9211,80213,228  Children’s nurses 2004/5 Planned2004/05 Actual2005/06 Planned2005/06 Actual2006/07 Planned2006/07 Actual2007/08 Planned2007/08 Actual2,1882,2292,2511,8142,1132,0602,0692,0622008/09 Planned2008/09 Actual2009/10 Planned2009/10 Actual2010-11 Planned2010-11 Actual2011-12Planned2011-12 Actual  2,0192,0212,0302,0522,2192,0162,0071,9512012-13 Planned2012-13 Actual2013-14 Planned2013-14 Actual2014-15 Planned   2,1892,1872,1802,0842,182  Learning disability nurses 2004/5 Planned2004/05 Actual2005/06 Planned2005/06 Actual2006/07 Planned2006/07 Actual2007/08 Planned2007/08 Actual1,0838449607069107237986172008/09 Planned2008/09 Actual2009/10 Planned2009/10 Actual2010-11 Planned2010-11 Actual2011-12Planned2011-12 Actual  8116297557237776426145742012-13 Planned2012-13 Actual2013-14 Planned2013-14 Actual2014-15 Planned   612618876603653  Mental health nurses 2004/5 Planned2004/05 Actual2005/06 Planned2005/06 Actual2006/07 Planned2006/07 Actual2007/08 Planned2007/08 Actual4,9224,0504,3193,5144,0903,7283,6963,4422008/09 Planned2008/09 Actual2009/10 Planned2009/10 Actual2010-11 Planned2010-11 Actual2011-12Planned2011-12 Actual  3,7693,4973,7553,5433,3983,5473,2653,1492012-13 Planned2012-13 Actual2013-14 Planned2013-14 Actual2014-15 Planned   3,1323,0252,9083,0793,143  In December 2014, Health Education England published their Workforce Plan for England which includes their planned Education and Training Commissions for 2015/16.

Speech and Language Disorders

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research evidence the NHS uses to indicate how to select the most appropriate treatment approach for an individual parent or child in stammer cases.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department holds on long term outcomes for children who stammer.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Ensuring the most appropriate treatment for a child with a stammer is a decision for the judgement of the clinician, drawing on their professional training, their ongoing professional development, and the advice provided by the relevant professional body.   The quality of care would be monitored by the provider, through clinical audit and other performance assurance, and by the relevant regulator of the provider (such as the Care Quality Commission), and the professional regulator (such as the Health and Care Professions Council, which regulates speech and language therapists).   Information is not collected centrally on long-term outcomes for children who stammer.

Speech and Language Disorders

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what studies of long term outcomes for children who stammer his Department has conducted or commissioned through a long-term national cohort study of children from early years to adulthood.

George Freeman: The Department has not conducted or commissioned such studies. The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including stammering. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Strokes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will increase spending on stroke research to the same level as the spending on cancer and coronary heart disease research.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report Research spend in the UK, published by the Stroke Association on 3 December 2014, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve stroke research capacity in the UK.

George Freeman: The report published by the Stroke Association compares research spend in four disease areas (stroke, cancer, coronary heart disease and dementia) by governmental organisations and charities.   The usual practice of the two main public funders of health research – the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) - is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics or disease areas: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.   NIHR expenditure on research on stroke, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) (including coronary heart disease) and dementia is shown in the following table.   £ million  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14Stroke20.220.920.426.126.3Cancer101.5100.9104.1133.2129.9CVD31.631.034.142.746.3Dementia12.618.324.924.426.8   Through its training and career development programmes, the NIHR supports clinicians at all stages of their career: integrated clinical and academic training; doctoral training; postdoctoral training; and more senior awards. The prestigious NIHR Senior Investigator award provides an additional incentive for the country’s most outstanding clinical researchers. These programmes make a major contribution to the building and developing of research capacity in stroke and other disease areas.

Hepatitis: Drugs

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to support patients with cirrhosis to access treatment for hepatitis C after the waiver for the implementation period of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance for the medicine sofosbuvir.

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with NHS England on the fast track interim policy agreed by NHS England during the appraisal of sofosbuvir by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that it is currently developing interim proposals to allow selected patients with cirrhosis to have early access to some of the new drugs that are expected to be available to treat hepatitis C later in 2015. NHS England aims to have these interim policies in place by the first half of 2015.   These will provide access to treatment in advance of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s final technology appraisal guidance on these products which is expected to be published shortly.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses in North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust have had their pay downgraded as a consequence of national consultations; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: No nurses have had their pay downgraded as a result of national consultations. Banding of nursing posts is a matter for local employers, involving local Trade Unions, using the Agenda for Change job evaluation framework.   We have written to Paul Garvin, Chair of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Rampton Hospital

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has for the Peaks Unit at Rampton Hospital.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is the commissioner of all high secure services in England, across the three high security hospitals, which includes Rampton Hospital. Future commissioning plans will be informed by a capacity assessment that was undertaken in 2014 in consultation with the three hospitals. NHS England fully expects to continue commissioning high secure services in the Peaks Unit.   The only likely change to future commissioning arrangements at the Peaks Unit will involve patients who are being treated in a pilot service for offenders who meet the criteria for Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD). In 2011 the Government consulted on proposals to re-shape services for offenders who met the criteria for DSPD. In 2014 NHS England formally notified Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust of its intention to decommission the DSPD service in Rampton Hospital’s Peaks Unit.   NHS England and the Trust are currently in discussions about the process and timescale for decommissioning. Current patients will move to the most appropriate alternative treatment setting, taking into account their own particular needs and advice received from the clinicians who are caring for them. Some patients will continue to require hospital treatment in a high security hospital.

Social Services: Veterans

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of fully exempting war disablement pensions from means tests for social care in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in 2014-15.

Norman Lamb: Officials in the Department have been working closely with the Royal British Legion to consider the issue of applying a disregard in the social care charging rules to payments under the War Pension Scheme. This includes working to establish an assessment of what the costs would be of applying such a disregard.   However, the Department is unable to provide a robust estimate at this time due to a lack of data on the numbers of war pensions currently receiving social care; the cost of that support and any amount of contributions they may currently be making. Further work is therefore needed and the officials are continuing to work with the Royal British Legion and others to refine these costs.

Social Services: Veterans

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many recipients of war disablement pensions access local authority support for non-residential care in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in receipt of war disablement pensions access local authority support for non-residential care in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many recipients of war disablement pensions access local authority support for residential care in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in receipt of a war disablement pension access local authority support for residential social care in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Norman Lamb: The Department has jurisdiction over England only and does not collect information on the number of war disablement pensioners accessing care.

Social Services: Veterans

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason war disablement pensions are not fully exempted from local authority means tests for social care while Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Guaranteed Income Payments are so exempted.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons guidance on charging for social care for injured veterans differs depending on whether the injury was sustained before or after 5 April 2005.

Norman Lamb: The two different schemes that are available to support veterans who have been injured in service were established to deliver different aims which is why they are treated differently under the current social care charging rules.   The War Pension Scheme was introduced after World War 1, before the introduction of the welfare state and provides a range of allowances in addition to the basic war disablement pension. Some of these allowances are designed to specifically pay for the ongoing care costs associated with an individual’s disability and these are paid at a preferential rate, meaning that a war pensioner does not have to use their basic War Disablement Pension to meet these costs or seek other benefits to cover them. The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme however was introduced in 2005 and operates differently. Regular payments under it are designed to provide a guaranteed income for the future and are therefore currently treated differently in assessing what a person can afford to contribute to the cost of their care.   Social care has never been free and people have always been asked to make a contribution based on what they can afford. However, we know that the current system for paying for care no longer reflects the needs of today’s society which is why we are in the process of introducing the biggest reforms in over 65 years.   Officials in the Department have been working closely with the Royal British Legion to assess how a disregard may be applied for the War Pension Scheme under the social care charging rules in future.

Nurses

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses, excluding midwives and health visitors per one million population there were in (a) England and (b) each Health Education England region in each year since 2009-10.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) publish an annual workforce census, which shows staff working in the National Health Service in England. The latest information from the census was published in March 2014 and shows the position at 30 September 2013, the next annual census will be published in March 2015 showing the position as at 30 September 2014. The HSCIC also publish monthly NHS workforce statistics.   The attached table shows the number of nurses, excluding midwives and health visitors per 1,000,000 population from September 2004 to October 2014. Health Education England regions have only existed from 2013, so national figures have been used for this time series.   The latest hospital and community health services monthly workforce statistics published by the HSCIC ,shows that there has been an increase of over 6,300 in the nursing, midwifery, and health visiting group between May 2010 and October 2014.This includes nearly 2,000 more midwives, over 3,000 more health visitors and over 1,300 more nurses. 



Nurses in England per 1 million population 2004-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 12.63 KB)

General Practitioners

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs (a) excluding retainers and registrars and (b) including retainers but excluding registrars per one million population there were in (i) England and (ii) each Health Education England region in each year since 2009-10.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The attached table provides the information for all general practitioners and for the requested categories for 2004 to 2013. The next census will be published on 25 March 2015, reflecting the position in September 2014. 



GPs in England per 1 million population 2004-13
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26.77 KB)

In Vitro Fertilisation

Mrs Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the long-term health and wellbeing of (a) people born following mitochondrial donation who have passed the age of 18 and choose not to remain part of a clinical trial and (b) the descendants of people born following mitochondrial donation.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015, if approved by Parliament, will not come into force until 29 October 2015.   The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will consider how best to apply a monitoring framework to clinics awarded a licence to carry out mitochondrial donation treatment, against which it would inspect. The HFEA will announce its proposals for the regulation and monitoring of mitochondrial donation treatment cycles following the approval of regulations by Parliament.

Hereditary Diseases

Mrs Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) treatments for mitochondrial disease involving mitochondrial donation and (b) treatments for mitochondrial disease that do not involve mitochondrial donation in each of the next five financial years.

Jane Ellison: The Government’s analysis of estimated costs and benefits is contained in the Impact Assessment that was laid in Parliament, together with the Draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015, on 17 December 2014.   The cost over 10 years was estimated at £11.1 million with the monetised benefit estimated at £329.2 million.

Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many breast reconstruction operations were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many varicose vein surgery procedures were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of cataract surgery procedures that were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many knee replacement operations were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many hip replacement operations were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of IVF cycle procedures that were carried out by the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: No such estimates have been made.   The Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust does not provide any of the services specified. The Trust provides: - mental health and specialist health learning disabilities services to people of all ages in Sandwell and Wolverhampton; - specialist learning disability services in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Dudley; and - community healthcare services for children, young people and families in Dudley.

Mesothelioma

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for research into mesothelioma.

George Freeman: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has invited researchers to apply for mesothelioma research funding, in particular to address the research questions identified through the Mesothelioma Priority Setting Partnership and published in December 2014. Eight NIHR programmes are participating in this themed call.   Two insurers – Aviva and Zurich – who participated in the earlier donation by insurers of £3 million to the British Lung Foundation (BLF), have agreed to each donate £250,000 per annum to the BLF for mesothelioma research over the next two years – a combined total of £1 million.

Breast Cancer: Drugs

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222671, what recommended alternatives to (a) eribulin, (b) lapatinib and (c) everolimus are available to treat breast cancer; and what clinical benefits each alternative offers in terms of (i) progression free survival, (ii) overall survival, (iii) quality of life and (iv) toxicity.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a number of drugs for the treatment of advanced and metastatic breast cancer through its technology appraisals and a clinical guideline. These include: - anthracyclines - docetaxel - vinorelbine - capecitabine - gemcitabine in combination with paclitaxel - tamoxifen - trastuzumab   Further information on each of these, together with the evidence base for NICE’s recommendations, can be found in NICE’s updated clinical guideline on advanced breast cancer (CG81) at:   www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg81

Cancer: Drugs

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222670, on what grounds the removal of cancer drugs from the national Cancer Drugs Fund list can be appealed; and by when such appeals must be made.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that any request for a formal review of a decision made by the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) panel to remove a drug from the national CDF list can be made in line with NHS England’s Standard Operating Procedures for the Fund. Any request for a review of a panel decision must be made by the clinician or pharmaceutical industry representative that made the original application for inclusion on the list.   Requests must be lodged within 20 working days of the original decision being notified.

NHS: Private Sector

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 219495, how much the NHS plans to spend on commissioning independent providers (a) in total and (b) excluding not-for-profit providers in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on individual contracts awarded, as these are decisions for local clinically-led commissioning groups.

NHS: Private Sector

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 219495, how much the NHS spent on commissioning for-profit providers in (a) each of the last five full financial years and (b) 2014-15 to date.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is provided in the table below:   YearSpend on independent providers as a % of total NHS revenue spend2009-104.4%2010-114.9%2011-125.3%2012-135.5%2013-146.1%